Several insurance industry leadership appointments were announced over the summer break.

• Marcus Pearl is the new CEO of Allianz Australia’s crop and forestry insurance subsidiary Primacy Underwriting Management. He succeeds Bernie Mayers, who has stepped down after eight years as MD and 20 years with Primacy and predecessor Agricola Crop Insurance. Melbourne-based Mr Pearl has responsibility for Primacy’s Australian and New Zealand operations and will assist with implementation of Allianz’s broader regional and rural strategy. He reports to Allianz Head of Regional & Rural Brett Williams.
• Listed travel insurer Cover-More has appointed Andrew Byrne as Group COO. Mr Byrne is currently Senior Regional VP APAC Personal Lines at AIG Asia-Pacific, based in Shanghai. He will relocate to Sydney to take up the position on March 1. He replaces John Murphy, who has held the COO position since 2013 and played a key role in Cover-More’s listing on the Australian Securities Exchange that year. Mr Byrne is a former CEO of Singapore-based DirectAsia Insurance, COO of CitiStreet Australia and GM general insurance at Suncorp.
• Graham Crozier has been appointed CEO of Coface Australia and New Zealand, effective today. He will oversee the business development and operations of Coface’s trade credit insurance and services activities in Oceania. He succeeds Paul McGahen, who has announced his retirement after almost four years leading Coface in Australia. Mr Crozier was previously GM NSW at National Credit Insurance Brokers.
• Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) has appointed Noel MacCarthy to the position of Chief Underwriting Officer, Global Casualty, in addition to his current role as Senior VP Casualty for Asia-Pacific. Mr MacCarthy is currently based in Singapore, where he will remain in his expanded role. He has been with LIU since 1999, when it obtained its Australian licence.