SSP unveils Keychoice management team

Keychoice Underwriting, the new commercial lines underwriting operation headed up by SSP's Jonathan Davey, has unveiled its senior management team prior to its launch later this year.

Derek Findlayson has been appointed strategy and propositions director. He has spent almost 30 years in the industry with Legal and General, AXA and Groupama. Until recently he held the roles of director of sales and distribution and managing director at Ignition NBS, the marketing and business services consultancy. Findlayson will focus on developing a market leading product and service offering to meet members’ current and future needs.

Keychoice Underwriting has also recruited Tony Griffiths, who joins as underwriting director. With almost 30 years underwriting experience within both the Lloyds and company markets, he was most recently managing director of Lynx Underwriting Services. In the new role Griffiths will have responsibility for the underwriting and profitability of the SME commercial portfolio and is currently in the process of recruiting a team of liability and property underwriters and claims and risk management specialists.

Dene Smith joins as head of sales and will be responsible for recruiting and managing the sales and account management teams across the UK. He has over 20 years experience in the insurance industry, holding a variety of business development and underwriting roles with General Accident / Norwich Union, HSBC and AXA. Latterly he was Axa’s head of customer delivery for the UK, where he was responsible for six branch operations with a combined GWP of £500m.

Jonathan Davey, managing director at Keychoice Underwriting said: "Our research shows that brokers want the level of personal service that they provide to their clients. They want to work with insurance providers that are open, flexible and responsive to their needs. They want a real, two-way relationship, so they can discuss their clients’ requirements with experienced underwriters who can make decisions.

“To deliver this, we have put together an enormously talented and experienced team, with a strong track record of service delivery in the broker market. I am confident that their experience, combined with Keychoice’s existing strong relationships and SSP’s market leading technology, will establish Keychoice Underwriting as a key player in the industry."

For more from Davey, see this week's issue of Insurance Times.