White Mountains Insurance Group has announced the election of Liam Caffrey (pictured above) as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Caffrey, who currently serves as president and chief financial officer, will also join the company’s board at the start of the year.
Caffrey will succeed current CEO Manning Rountree, who is set to retire from his executive role and the board on Dec. 31, 2025. Rountree will continue with White Mountains as a senior advisor through January 1, 2028. In this capacity, he will remain on the boards of several operating subsidiaries and provide counsel to the senior management team.
Caffrey joined White Mountains in 2022 as CFO. Before his tenure at the company, he spent nine years in finance and operating roles at Aon PLC. Earlier in his career, he was a principal at McKinsey & Company.
“I am honored to assume leadership of this great company,” Caffrey said. He credited Rountree as a valued mentor and expressed appreciation for his ongoing guidance.
Caffrey also noted that White Mountains is “in a fantastic position today” and said he looks forward to working with the board and management team to continue building shareholder value.
“[Caffrey] is the right person to lead the company going forward,” Rountree said, adding that the business and team are in strong shape and that the timing is right for the transition.
White Mountains also announced additional leadership changes. Michael Papamichael, currently managing director and deputy CFO of White Mountains Capital LLC, will become CFO on January 1, 2026. Papamichael rejoined White Mountains in 2020 after serving as a senior vice president at Hamilton Insurance Group and holding senior roles at Sirius Group, including during its ownership by White Mountains prior to 2016.
White Mountains also recently expanded its portfolio through a significant deal to acquire a majority stake in Distinguished Programs, a managing general agent (MGA), for $230 million. This transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 pending regulatory approval, will increase White Mountains’ ownership in Distinguished Programs to approximately 51%.
In its most recent financial results, White Mountains reported a 27% increase in gross written premiums for its Ark/WM Outrigger segment in the first quarter of 2025, reaching $1.1 billion. This growth occurred despite catastrophe losses from the California wildfires, and the combined ratio for Ark remained steady at 94%.
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