Bermudian Michelle Seymour Smith has been appointed to the board of Conduit Holdings Limited as an independent, non-executive director.

The company said that Ms Seymour Smith has enjoyed a highly successful career in the Bermudian insurance industry spanning more than 20 years since qualifying as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen.

She most recently served as the chief transformation officer of Arch Capital Group Ltd until 2019, spearheading a global initiative to establish a group-wide culture of continuous improvement to grow business and improve operational efficiency, Conduit said.

Before that, the company said, Ms Seymour Smith was the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Arch Reinsurance Ltd, building and overseeing the financial operations of the insurance, reinsurance and mortgage divisions as well as those of Arch's international subsidiary reinsurance divisions.

Before joining Arch in 2004, she held positions at XL Capital Ltd and Zurich Insurance Global Energy.

Ms Seymour Smith will also serve on Conduit's audit committee.

Neil Eckert, group executive chairman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Michelle to the board of Conduit. We are lucky to be able to draw on her wealth of expertise and experience, not just on the financial side of our business, where she has had an illustrious career, but also in the cultural aspects of building a business, where she has left a trail of success in her wake. I very much look forward to working with her.”

Trevor Carvey, group chief executive officer, added: “Michelle has an exceptional reputation in our industry. She is an accomplished and respected business leader and shares all of the values that form the foundations of the business we are building at Conduit.”

The company is the parent of Conduit Re, which is part of the “Class of 2020” group of companies set up to capitalise on rising re/insurance rates.

Conduit Re is licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority as a Class 4 reinsurer.