People Matter

I am pleased to announce two important leadership appointments that are taking place in the Northeast Region.

Rich Hesselman (previously Senior Vice President & New Haven Branch Manager) will assume the role of Boston Branch Manager. Jon Pensa (previously Vice President & Commercial Insurance Manager for the New Haven Branch) will assume the role of New Haven Branch Manager. In these roles, Rich and Jon will be responsible for all of Chubb’s operations within their assigned geography, including branch profit & loss as well as setting and executing the underwriting, claims, risk control, operations and distribution management strategies of the company’s business units across both commercial and personal insurance. Their leadership and oversight encompass local branch operations, underwriting, business development, account retention, distribution strategies and service delivery to small commercial, middle market, national account and personal lines producers and customers. They each will have direct and matrix management responsibility of branch underwriting managers, business development managers, territory sales leaders, claims, risk control and operations leadership.

Rich Hesselman has spent his entire 28 year insurance career with Chubb and held a number roles of increasing responsibility, including: underwriting leadership (North America and Asia), Northeast Regional Marketing Manager and New Haven Branch Manager. He is uniquely positioned to take on the Boston Branch Manager role, as he has long standing and deep relationships with agents, brokers and clients across New England. I am excited to have Rich back in Boston and leading our dynamic and high performing team.

Jon Pensa brings 27 years of insurance industry experience, with over 20 years of his career working with Connecticut based agents, brokers and clients. His diverse background of leading Loss Control, Commercial Insurance Underwriting and three years as the New Haven Branch Marketing Manager positions him well for success in his new role. Jon and his New Haven based Commercial Insurance underwriting team have been strong performers and contributed significantly to the success of the Northeast Region. I have great confidence that Jon will be able to execute at a high level in the new role and drive strong growth and profit across our various segments and product lines. We will be pursuing a replacement for Jon in the role of New Haven Branch Commercial Insurance Manager. During Jon’s transition into the New Haven Branch Manager role, he will retain his management responsibilities and underwriting authority within Commercial Insurance.

These appointments demonstrate the strong and deep bench of talent we have within the Chubb Northeast Region. Prior to Rich Hesselman’s appointment as the Chubb Boston Branch manager, I held the dual role of Regional Executive Officer- Northeast Region and Boston Branch Manager. Going forward I will be fully operating and spending my time as the Northeast Regional Executive Officer and working closely with our Branch Management team in Boston, New Haven and Rochester NY, Regional Segment Leadership team, our valued distribution partners and insureds to exceed Chubb and our client’s expectations across the region in 2020 and beyond. I look forward to staying engaged with our Boston based producers and clients, as well as spending more time traveling to Connecticut and Upstate NY fostering and building relationships.

Please join me in congratulating and wishing Rich and Jon well as they transition to their new roles in January 2020. Feel free to cascade this announcement across your organization.

Happy Holidays,

Mitch Schmidt
Regional Executive Officer- Chubb Northeast Region