AXIS Capital Holdings has appointed Jim Rhyner (pictured) as head of North America financial lines, programs and Canada, effective August 31.
Rhyner will report to Mike McKenna, head of North America, and will be based out of AXIS's Short Hills, New Jersey office, though his remit explicitly includes the company's Canadian financial lines and programs business.
Rhyner joins from The Hartford, where he served as global head of financial lines since 2019, overseeing management liability, professional liability and cyber underwriting. He arrived at The Hartford through its 2019 acquisition of Navigators, where he had been president of Navigators Financial Lines since 2017. His earlier career includes leadership roles at Chubb, Avreco and AIG.
He succeeds John Van Decker, who is retiring after 15 years with AXIS in a role that included leading its global financial lines and North American professional lines businesses, capping a career spanning more than four decades in the industry.
"Jim is a well-respected leader within our industry with an established reputation for leading high-performing teams," said McKenna. "His extensive experience and demonstrated expertise make him a natural successor to John Van Decker."
For brokers placing financial lines and program business with AXIS, this appointment brings a new leader to one of the market's larger specialty books at a moment when management liability, professional liability and cyber pricing have all been closely watched.
Rhyner's move is notable within the sector -- he leaves one of the largest US commercial insurers' financial lines operation to take the equivalent seat at a Bermuda-based specialty carrier, a shift industry sources have described as a significant hire for AXIS.
Brokers with existing relationships built around Van Decker's leadership should expect continuity in the near term given Rhyner's comparable background running D&O, E&O and cyber books at both The Hartford and Navigators, though new leadership at this level typically brings some recalibration of risk appetite and portfolio priorities within the first year.
The transition comes as AXIS has been expanding its North American programs business more broadly. The company reported gross premiums written of $3.1 billion for the first quarter of 2026, up 11% year over year, alongside an improved combined ratio of 89.8%, suggesting the financial lines and programs unit Rhyner is inheriting is operating from a position of growth rather than retrenchment.