Skip to main content
Aug 13, 2019

HDI hires new general counsel and corporate secretary

Patricia Ryan was previously a partner at law firm Johnson & Bell

HDI Global Insurance Company (HDI) has hired Patricia Ryan as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective August 8.

Ryan was previously a partner at law firm Johnson & Bell, where her practice focused on insurance regulatory, transactional and risk-management issues, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that, she was executive vice president and general counsel of American Overseas Group, a Bermuda-based insurance holding company. Earlier in her career, she was assistant general counsel of QBE US Agencies and senior counsel at Allianz.

Ryan has succeeded David Neumeister who, having spent 11 years with HDI, has returned to his former law firm Querrey & Harrow. He was head of the insurance law and appellate practice groups at Querrey & Harrow before joining HDI. He is now a shareholder at the firm advising on corporate governance, regulatory and transactional issues and risk management with a particular focus on the insurance industry. He also concentrates on insurance coverage and appellate litigation.

In her new role at HDI, Ryan is principal counsel responsible for managing all legal matters for the company, including compliance, litigation, regulatory and government affairs, contracts and legal consultation to HDI’s business operations. She reports to president and CEO Lothar Becker and will work with HDI’s board of directors on corporate governance and business processes.

HDI is an international industrial-lines insurer and member of the Hannover, Germany-based Talanx Group. The group’s companies operate under different brands including HDI, Hannover Re, PB insurers and TARGO insurers as well as Ampega, a funds provider and asset manager.

‘Patricia’s impressive and expansive background in insurance law is perfectly suited for this role and HDI. I am confident she will successfully expand our capabilities. She understands our culture and knows our business,’ Becker says in a statement.

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...