What’s New: In Brief (September 10, 2007)

Daniel (Dani) Goldsmith has been appointed to vice president and CFO at Hub International Limited. He will also be joining Hubs Executive Management Team and Executive Committee. Goldsmith brings with him several years of experience, including international experience, with both public and private companies, most recently serving as CFO at Almatis. He has been the president of Terex Corporation’s North American Cranes division and the CFO of Terex Cranes and he has held various finance and operations positions with Borg Warner and Tenneco Automotive. Goldsmith began his career at Ford Motor Credit Company. Dani’s technical credentials speak for themselves but what allowed him to rise above the other candidates we met was his leadership experience in multiple functional areas, including finance and operations, Martin P. Hughes, HUB’s Chairman and CEO, said in a release. Dani has a long track record of business success and he is going to be a great addition to our Executive Management Team.

Natural catastrophe claims in 2007 will amount to roughly US$35 billion, well above 2006s US$12 billion, continuing the long-term trend towards high natural catastrophe claims, according to a Swiss Re release. The recent capital market volatility re-emphasises the value of reinsurance as an effective measure for risk diversification and this will have modest positive consequences for demand, according to the release.