Chubb Taps Investment Banker as Next Finance Chief

By Kristin Broughton 

Insurance company Chubb Ltd. recruited an investment banker to succeed its longtime finance chief Philip Bancroft, who plans to retire.

Peter Enns, currently global co-head of investment banking at HSBC Holdings PLC, will take over as chief financial officer on July 1, when Mr. Bancroft retires, Chubb said Friday. Mr. Enns joined HSBC in 2018 and before that worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for more than two decades. He is set to join Chubb on April 1 as executive vice president of finance.

Mr. Bancroft will continue as an adviser to the company after he retires through the end of the year. He became Chubb's CFO in January 2016, when insurer ACE Ltd. acquired Chubb and assumed its name. Mr. Bancroft had been CFO of ACE since 2002.

In his new role, Mr. Enns will be tasked with navigating Chubb through the pandemic amid legal battles over business-interruption insurance and recent changes in consumer behavior. The pandemic has had various effects on the industry, including prompting customers to drive less and submit fewer claims.

The U.K. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that insurers must pay out business-interruption claims from a range of businesses stemming from the pandemic. In the U.S., more than 1,300 coronavirus-related business-interruption lawsuits against insurers are pending in state and federal courts.

Chubb took a roughly $1 billion charge in July due to risks related to the pandemic affecting business-interruption, travel, accident and professional liability insurance products, among other areas. Net income for the nine months ended Sep. 30 was $1.1 billion, c ompared with $3.3 billion for the same period in 2019.

"There's a whole basket of issues coming out of 2020 that are going to be important for the company," said J. Paul Newsome, a senior research analyst at Piper Sandler Cos., an investment bank. Mr. Newsome also cited the competitive environment in the insurance sector and rising prices for commercial insurance as key challenges that Mr. Enns will face as CFO.

"[Peter] has the right background to lead our finance organization, with proven experience in corporate finance, investment banking, accounting and public markets," said Evan Greenberg, chief executive at Zurich-based Chubb, in a statement.

Broughton at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2021 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.