RenaissanceRe names next general counsel

NYSE-listed RenaissanceRe Holdings has recruited Shannon Lowry Bender as senior vice president, group general counsel and corporate secretary, effective January 1, 2021.

Bender succeeds Stephen Weinstein, executive vice president, group general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer (CCO), who will leave RenaissanceRe at the end of 2020 but will be an adviser to the company for 12 months.

Bender is joining RenaissanceRe from CIT, where she has been senior vice president and chief corporate counsel. Before working at CIT, she was a partner at law firm Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson in New York. She will be based at RenaissanceRe’s Bermuda headquarters, pending immigration approval.

Weinstein has been RenaissanceRe’s group general counsel and corporate secretary since joining the company in 2002 and CCO since 2004. Before joining the company, he specialized in corporate law as an attorney at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He has also served as director and deputy chair of the Bermuda Business Development Agency since 2016.

‘I am delighted to welcome Shannon to our global leadership team. She joins us at an exciting time, and I look forward to the external perspective and deep experience she will bring as we execute our strategy into a strong market,’ RenaissanceRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell says in a statement.

‘I appreciate Steve’s significant contributions over nearly two decades with RenaissanceRe. He has served as a trusted adviser to our company as we have expanded our global platforms and diversified our business. In addition to his many accomplishments as group general counsel, Steve has also advanced our industry’s leadership in natural disaster risk mitigation, especially related to climate change. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.’