Reinsurer Qatar Re Appoints Smith, Young, Tidd
Qatar Re announced the appointments of Andrew Smith as the Group’s Chief Risk Officer, Adam Young as Head of Compliance and Steve Tidd as Chief Operating Officer, saying that the ”appointments further strengthen Qatar Re’s risk and corporate governance and oversight while also enhancing its internal systems, processes and operating efficiency.”
Andrew Smith and Adam Young will be based in Qatar Re’s growing head-office in Bermuda.
Gunther Saacke, CEO, said: “These most recent senior appointments again demonstrate our ability to attract top calibre professionals to join us on our path of rapid development. Having worked closely with Andrew as a senior consultant before, we are delighted to have him on board as a member of our senior management team. His in-depth risk expertise will be instrumental in securing the quality of our future growth.
“Similarly, in his previous function as Head of Group Compliance for our parent company QIC, Adam has been working with Qatar Re for the past few years. His experience with differing regulatory environments and his knowledge of the wider QIC Group will prove invaluable as we continue to pursue our strategic objectives.
“Finally, Steve’s promotion reflects the success in his previous assignment as our Head of Operations. Within a very short period of time, he has already seen through some important enhancements of our processes and systems.”
Andrew Smith took up his new role as Chief Risk Officer on 1 May 2016. He joins from Ernst & Young [EY] where he already worked extensively with Qatar Re on its re-domiciliation to Bermuda.
Mr. Smith has eighteen years of experience, the last five of which have been in Bermuda, where he advised commercial clients and industry associations on the changing risk and capital agenda. At EY, he had local responsibility for their financial services risk management and actuarial teams.
Prior to that, Mr. Smith was with PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC], based in London, working in the London market and internationally with clients across Europe, Asia and the Americas. While Mr. Smith has focused on risk management for most of his career, he is an accountant by training. He holds the designations CPA [Bermuda], FCCA [UK] and ACA [UK].
Adam Young took up his new role as Head of Compliance in Bermuda on 1 June 2016. He joins from the QIC Group’s headquarters in Doha where he held the role of Head of Group Compliance since late 2013.
During his tenure, Mr. Young was responsible for the Group’s compliance oversight of its insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries and their activities across the Middle East. These included Qatar Re, prior to its transfer from the Qatar Financial Centre to Bermuda.
Mr. Young was also involved in providing regulatory support for some of the QIC Group’s strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of the Antares group of companies and the restructuring of its international operations.
Prior to joining QIC Group, Mr. Young held various compliance roles within Lloyd’s and the London insurance markets with firms including AEGIS Managing Agency Limited and Brit Syndicates Limited, where he held the role of Compliance Officer. Mr. Young started his career in insurance in 2003 with broking house Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
Steve Tidd joined Qatar Re in October 2015 as Head of Operations and has been appointed Chief Operating Officer with effect from 1 July 2016. Mr. Tidd quickly became instrumental in Qatar Re’s continued efforts to build out and further enhance the operational efficiencies that the company requires in order to excel in its services.
In his enlarged role, Mr. Tidd will ensure Qatar Re further increases its quality of operations, high level of customer service, and will keep enhancing a reputation of entrepreneurial spirit and capital strength. Mr. Tidd has over 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry, including business leadership, general and operations management, and as a technical specialist.
His experience extends across both the retail and reinsurance sectors, with a particular emphasis on UK motor. Prior to joining Qatar Re, Mr. Tidd was with Service Underwriting Agency Ltd as Managing Director.
