New Artex chairman announced

Peter Mullen will step down as chief executive officer of Artex Risk Solutions at the end of the year to become chairman of the company he co-founded in Bermuda almost three decades ago.

He will be succeeded by Gallagher executive vice president Zeb Holt, who will become chief executive (designate) effective July 1, prior to succeeding Mullen as Artex chief executive on January 1, 2025. Artex is a subsidiary of Gallagher. 

Mullen will succeed fellow co-founder David McManus as chairman. With Jennifer Gallagher, they founded the company in 1997. 

Mullen, who lives in Bermuda, returned to Artex as chief executive in 2019, having led Aon’s Bermuda operations from 2011.

Artex has grown rapidly since its inception and now has more than 500 employees serving clients in 35 domiciles. It is the third-largest insurance manager in the world.

It bought employment and accounting services company Frontier in 2023 while also expanding in Ireland with the buyout of Dublin-based Allied Risk Management.

Holt began his insurance career as an intern with Gallagher in 2004. During his tenure, he has held brokerage and sales leadership positions with Gallagher and Artex. Most recently, he was Gallagher’s Area President of South Florida, before moving into his current role in 2018 as regional EVP - Florida.

In a post on LinkedIn, Holt thanked his colleagues in Florida, saying: "It’s been an absolute privilege and honour to work alongside the Gallagher South Florida and broader Florida teams for the past 11 years. We dreamed big dreams, and then, made them happen - together! 

"While my role may be changing, my belief in you all will always be there."

He added: "To my new colleagues at Artex Risk Solutions, thank you for the outpouring of warm welcoming messages and for your willingness to embrace me into your team! This is an exciting homecoming for me and I can’t wait to get started in carrying on the legacy David, Pete and Jenny started in 1997, and you all have built into a global, alternative risk finance leader today! I am so optimistic for the future we will build together."

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