Everest Group, Ltd has appointed Gary Haase as executive vice-president and CEO of legacy operations, effective December 1. He will report to Jim Williamson, Everest’s president and CEO, and will join the company’s executive leadership team.

The appointment follows Everest’s recent $2 billion renewal rights sale of its commercial retail insurance business to AIG, a strategic step in refocusing the company on its core, high-performing global businesses.

Mr Haase will lead the strategy and execution of Everest’s legacy insurance portfolios, driving capital efficiency, operational discipline, and long-term value.

“Gary’s broad and diverse experience — from actuarial and claims to M&A and technology transformation — makes him uniquely qualified for this role and an exceptional addition to our senior team,” said Jim Williamson.

“His proven ability to modernise complex legacy portfolios and integrate analytics to unlock value will strengthen our legacy operations, enhance capital deployment and support Everest’s strategy for sustained, profitable growth.”

Mr Haase brings more than two decades of experience across insurance, reinsurance and financial services. Most recently, he has served as executive adviser to private equity and technology firms, guiding them through insurance M&A and AI transformation.

Previously, he was EVP and COO at CNA Financial Corporation, where he led enterprise technology, data and analytics, and operations, and the development of CNA’s cloud-native analytics and automation platform.

Before CNA, Mr Haase spent more than a decade with Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, rising to group COO, where he led the company’s global run-off and operational strategies across multiple jurisdictions. He began his career in actuarial and reinsurance roles at Quanta US Holdings and Aon Benfield.

“Everest’s global reach and disciplined underwriting platform create a powerful foundation for opportunity,” Mr Haase said. “I look forward to partnering with Jim and the leadership team to optimise Everest’s legacy business and advance its long-term strategy.”

He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and holds a Master of Business Administration in quantitative finance and general management from New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he also served as an adjunct associate professor of statistics.