EMB appoints first non-actuarial partner to spearhead business consultancy expansion

EMB, the specialist non-life consultancy, has appointed Rory O’Brien as a partner to expand its business consultancy practice.

O’Brien joins the company from Guardian Holdings, an EMB client and the Caribbean’s largest composite insurance group, where he was group chief executive. He is the company’s first non-actuarial partner and will be responsible for developing EMB’s expanding business consultancy business. This practice team has doubled in size in the last twelve months and O’Brien will be instrumental in growing it substantially over the next few years.

“Increasingly, clients are asking us to apply our core strengths to areas of broader business strategy. We are at a stage where it is right to extend our capabilities,” said Mike Brockman, partner at EMB. “Rory brings a welcome perspective to our consultancy – that of the chief executive of an insurance company. He understands that insurers need business solutions underpinned by technical ability. Rory is only our second partner to join the business directly and will be an integral part of the management team.”

“I’ve worked with a number of EMB partners in the past, and as a customer saw the benefits of its depth of knowledge and technical understanding,” said Rory O’Brien. “It’s a dynamic team which combines business acumen and actuarial experience with great opportunities for expansion. While I’ll certainly miss the Trinidad sunshine, EMB’s collaborative approach, success to date and challenging growth plans were enough to draw me back to England.”

O’Brien is a qualified accountant with 22 years’ experience in the financial services sector. As group CEO of Guardian Holdings he implemented a corporate recovery strategy and expanded the business. Previously, he headed the Insurance Consultancy practice at Deloitte, working with a range of UK and European insurers, having joined the company from the Actuarial and Consultancy practice at Bacon & Woodrow.

May 12, 2008