AmTrust adds new talent to small business team

AmTrust Financial announced two new additions to its Commercial Lines team.

Ken Surian has joined the company as Senior Vice President, Product Management and Brian White has been named Vice President, Product Strategy.

“AmTrust believes in investing in top industry talent as we pursue our goal to be the industry’s leading insurer of small businesses. Our ability to attract executives of the caliber of Ken and Brian – both of whom have long tenures at leading companies – bears witness to the strength of our offering, our brand and our corporate culture.” – Jeff Duncan, Executive Vice President, Commercial Lines.

Surian joins AmTrust from Travelers where he was most recently Vice President, Small Commercial State Product Management.

In a career with Travelers spanning more than 15 years, Surian held continually expanding responsibilities for managing new markets and improving challenged markets. In his most recent position, he held nationwide P&L accountability for Travelers Select regional product management teams. Previously, he managed the Select Workers Compensation and Auto portfolios. At AmTrust, Surian will be responsible for line of business profitability, state management and class appetite, using data-driven insights to drive underwriting and pricing decisions.

“I am eager to bring my experience to AmTrust as we build out our all-lines solutions for small businesses,” said Surian. “The Commercial Lines team is committed to being the best in the business and I am proud to now be part of this effort.” Prior to Travelers, Surian held product management positions at Liberty Mutual Insurance, OneBeacon Insurance, Unitrin Insurance (now Kemper), and Leader Insurance. He holds a BA and an MBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Joining AmTrust from Nationwide, where his most recent position was Director P&C, Product & Underwriting, Brian White’s new responsibilities include agent experience, product innovation, third-party data strategy, and strategic partnerships.

“My background in product strategy prepared me to introduce new products and form new strategic relationships for AmTrust,” said White. “The industry is changing quickly, and we will position ourselves to lead that change by helping agents grow and be more effective while meeting the evolving needs of small business owners.”

White joined Nationwide in 2002 and held positions of increasing responsibility, including Businessowners Policy Product & Underwriting Director and Director of Strategy for all lines. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Economics and Business Management from Wartburg College