Knighthead Annuity Names Industry Veteran to Head International Sales
February 26, 2016 by Dennis Gorski, managing editor-online, BestWeek: Dennis.Gorski@ambest.com
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – International annuity carrier Knighthead Annuity & Life Assurance Co. has hired a veteran of the investment industry to maintain and grow its global network of distribution partners.
John Harrell, formerly with Russell Investments, is now executive vice president and head of sales and new business for Knighthead, the company announced in a statement. Harrell is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s fixed annuity sales and distribution strategies.
Knighthead currently has clients in more than 60 countries, according to Chief Executive Officer Gary Dombowsky. It offers annuity products to non-U.S. international clients through regulated institutional distribution partners (Best’s News Service, March 13, 2015). Knighthead, a subsidiary of Knighthead Holdings, said it maintains capital levels “at significantly higher levels than traditional annuity insurers,” according to the statement.
Harrell termed the international fixed annuity market “a large and relatively underserved segment of the global insurance industry” in the statement.
At Russell, he was director of business solutions for bank channel sales, where he grew that network’s receipts from zero to more than $2.5 billion in five years, Knighthead said. Harrell formerly held senior sales positions at Symetra Financial, Banco Popular, Sun Life Financial and Liberty Mutual.
Knighthead Annuity & Life Assurance has a current Best’s Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good).
