Kevin O’Donnell has been appointed president and global chief underwriting officer of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.RenRe CEO Neill Currie said: “I’m pleased to announce the promotion of Kevin to the position of president of RenRe Holdings in recognition of his increasingly strategic contributions and achievements over an extended period.“Kevin has done an outstanding job at expanding our underwriting footprint, developing our talented team and instilling the disciplines and collaborative practices which will ensure that the highest standards of risk assessment and selection are maintained well into the future.”Mr O’Donnell previously served as executive vice-president and global chief underwriting officer and has been with the firm in positions of increasing leadership within the underwriting organisation since 1996.Appointed president of Renaissance Reinsurance Ltd in 2005, Mr O’Donnell has since managed all of the company’s reinsurance operations, including property catastrophe, ceded and retrocessional, and specialty reinsurance. In 2010, he assumed responsibility for RenaissanceRe’s direct insurance operations, including at Lloyd’s, and in 2011, for all assumed risk across the enterprise, including the company’s Ventures unit.Also last night, the Bermuda-based reinsurer announced that its board of directors had approved a quarterly dividend of 27 cents per share on its common stock.The dividend is payable on December 28, 2012 to shareholders of record on December 14, 2012.The RenRe board also approved an increase in RenaissanceRe’s share repurchase programme, bringing the total current authorisation to $500 million. This authorisation includes the remaining amounts available under prior authorisations.