Donaldson to join RSA group board in new role

Mr Donaldson, currently commercial managing director of RSA's UK operation, has been promoted to group broker relationship and sales director. He will take up the role in the summer.

In the new group role, Mr Donaldson will take responsibility for RSA's strategic relationships with brokers and for global sales effectiveness. He will also become chairman of the newly created group risk solutions and specialty board, which will oversee RSA's Risk Solutions businesses. He will report to group chief executive Andy Haste.

Since joining RSA in 1976, Mr Donaldson has amassed more than 35 years' experience in the insurance industry. He has held a number of positions at the insurer including CEO for the Republic of Ireland and, since July 2007, MD of commercial in RSA's UK business.

Commenting on the promotion, Mr Haste said: "I am delighted to welcome Paul to this new role. His strong broker relationships, understanding of sales and distribution channels and commercial experience means that he is ideally placed to provide a more centralised group focus on our key customer relationships."

Mr Donaldson said: "Brokers remain at the heart of our business and I'm excited to be working with our global network of brokers to continue strengthening our relationships and delivering on our promise to make it easy to do business with us. I am also looking forward to developing our global risk solutions and specialty franchise and taking it to the next stage."

Mr Donaldson will be succeeded as UK commercial lines MD by Jon Hancock, subject to FSA approval. Mr Hancock will report to Adrian Brown and will start his new role on 1 July following a transition period with Mr Donaldson.

Mr Hancock has been with RSA for 21 years and joins the UK from RSA's business in Asia and the Middle East, where he has been CEO for the past 15 months. Prior to that, he was underwriting director for RSA's emerging markets business.

Mr Brown commented: "I wanted to bring someone in who could continue the strong work that Paul had done, while at the same time, bring their own skills and experience. Jon fits the bill perfectly. He has a wealth of experience and comes armed with an impressive track record and I'm delighted to welcome him to my team."