Rising Edge, a London-based directors’ and officers’ (D&O) Managing General Agent (MGA), has announced the appointment of Kelly Lyles as Non-Executive Chair to its Board, effective 22 April, 2021.
Ms Lyles has extensive experience in the D&O market, beginning in the late 1980s as one of the first people to market and underwrite D&O liability for European companies. Most recently she served as Chief Executive, Client and Country Management, at AXA XL.
During her career, Ms Lyles has held a number of senior roles in underwriting and general management. Between 2014 and 2018, she served in several senior positions at XL and later XL Catlin, including Chief Regional Officer, Insurance, Deputy Chair of the insurance leadership team, and Chief Executive of Global Professional Insurance operations.
“I am delighted to join the Board of Rising Edge,” said Ms Lyles. “I decided to join the Board as I was extremely impressed with Philippe and Yoel’s business model, focussing on client and broker services and based on a data-led underwriting approach”.
“Rising Edge is a breath of fresh air in a D&O insurance market that not only requires experienced capacity, but also needs to reinvent itself to bring value to clients through relevant insight. For brokers, it will also bring a consistent and disciplined underwriting approach – all backed by a flawless operational model - even in a pandemic and post-Brexit environment.”
“I am pleased to be able to continue working with Kelly,” said Philippe Gouraud, CEO at Rising Edge. “Over the past 20 years, Kelly and I have worked together in various companies and we have always had a shared focus on clients and brokers and the principles of fairness and consistency of service – both of which are key pillars of Rising Edge’s engagement model. Kelly’s appointment is another major step towards the full launch we have announced for the first half of 2021.”
In 2019, Ms Lyles was named Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW) Insurance Woman of the Year. Before joining XL Group in 2014, she served as Head of Specialty Lines for Europe and EMEA at AIG, having served as AIG’s country manager in France between 2010 and 2013. Ms Lyles is a graduate of Villanova University, where she received her bachelor of science degree in business administration before joining AIG’s graduate programme in 1985.
Yoel Brightman, Managing Director at Rising Edge, added: “Kelly was a pioneer of D&O insurance in the London and European markets and has been a mentor to me for many years. I have always admired her. She has a highly personal and ethical approach to business and I’m honoured that she has agreed to join us in our next chapter.”