XL Group plc has hired Kimberly Holmes from Bermuda market rival Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd to be its senior vice-president of strategic analytics.The company also announced that its insurance operations arm XL Insurance had named Matthias Horntrich as chief underwriting officer for international property.Ms Holmes brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of analytics and risk management in the insurance industry and reports to Greg Hendrick, head of XL's Office of Strategic Growth.In her new role, Ms. Holmes is responsible for expanding XL's use of innovative, leading-edge risk analytics throughout the entire company. Working with all units of XL, including actuarial, risk management, underwriting, management information and information technology, she is tasked with developing new ways of thinking about risk analysis, and delivering appropriate tools to ensure maximum impact of new initiatives for XL's clients.XL Group chief executive officer Mike McGavick said: “We are honoured to have a top-tier talent such as Kim join XL. The rate of change and innovation occurring across the entire spectrum of society demands that a company like XL utilises the highest level of analytics and information to solve problems for our clients. Kim will be integral to our expanding use of best-in-class modelling across the entire company.”Ms Holmes, immediately prior to XL, was senior vice-president and chief actuary of Endurance Risk Solutions, the Global Fortune 1000 insurance business at Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd, where she created innovative analytics to improve decision making, developed casualty risk management tools and focused on ways to use analytics to drive strategy.Mr Horntrich has 15 years' experience in property underwriting across various European countries. He re-joins XL Insurance from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty where he was regional head of property, with responsibilities for UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa. Between 1997 and 2009, Mr. Horntrich held various underwriting roles within XL Insurance culminating in property underwriting manager in Germany.He takes on his new role from Gerald Kanis, who will be taking up a new senior management role within the company.