Donaldson steps down as Markerstudy Distribution boss and returns to Ardonagh

Ian Donaldson has stepped down from his role at Markerstudy after joining the firm through its merger with Atlanta, Insurance Times can reveal.

Atlanta, the former broking business of Ardonagh, officially merged with Markerstudy in June 2024. Under the terms of the deal, Ardonagh retained a minority equity stake in the combined business.

Donaldson, who had been chief executive at Ardonagh Retail, joined Markerstudy as part of the move, with him becoming chief executive of distribution.

Donaldson will now return to Ardonagh in a new role focused on building out the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across its global platforms.

Craig Ball, who joined Markerstudy as chief commercial officer for distribution through the merger, will also return to Ardonagh in a similar role.

Markerstudy chief executive Kevin Spencer said: “The Atlanta integration programme into Markerstudy Distribution and resulting synergies are well ahead of plan, enabling Donaldson and Ball to now accept new roles with Ardonagh.”

Donaldson added: “Integrating businesses at this scale has been a hard but rewarding task. I’m ready to return to Ardonagh for my next challenge.

”The UK has pioneered digital insurance transformation and I’m energised by the opportunity to work with colleagues across Europe, South America and APAC to share everything we have learned.

“I would like to thank my team for their support during this integration phase and wish them all the very best in the go forward. I will of course remain close to everyone at the group during this next phase.”

Promotion

As a result of these moves, Emma Rawlinson has been promoted to the role of chief executive at Markerstudy Distribution.

She entered the insurance sector in a senior strategic role at Swinton in 2018 and was promoted to chief financial officer, before the business was acquired by Ardonagh in 2020 and became part of Atlanta.

She was then promoted to Atlanta chief executive in October 2021.

Rawlinson joined Markerstudy following the completion of the Atlanta deal in June 2024, with her taking up the role of chief operating officer at Markerstudy Distribution.

In October 2024, she took on the role of chief investment officer.

Speaking about her latest promotion, Spencer said “Rawlinson previously led Atlanta as chief executive and, as part of our forward planning for this move, she will take charge of the distribution business on the next stage of its growth journey.

“We are hugely excited by the prospects for our business and in Rawlinson we have a high calibre leader who can build on Donaldson’s and Ball’s work to achieve our ambitious plans for 2025 and beyond.”