Longtime insurance executive Kevin Kelley dies

Kevin H. Kelley, a longtime insurance executive and retired vice chairman of Liberty Mutual’s Global Risk Solutions business, has died.

“We were deeply saddened to learn of Kevin’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family,” Liberty Mutual Chairman and CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement.

Mr. Kelley, a longtime executive at Lexington, the surplus lines unit of American International Group, was named its CEO in 1987 at age 36 and helped build it into a leading excess and surplus lines insurer in the United States.

In 2008 he joined Ironshore, a newly launched specialty insurer, as chairman and CEO. Liberty Mutual bought Ironshore in 2017.

Born in Boston, Mr. Kelley grew up in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and attended Cardinal Spellman High School in nearby Brockton, where he chaired the board of trustees. He graduated from Boston University in 1972 with a degree in business administration.

Mr. Kelley received the 2020 Business Insurance USIA Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Throughout his long and distinguished career, Kevin demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovative thinking. His legacy will continue to inspire and influence many within Liberty Mutual and across the industry for years to come,” Mr. Sweeney said in the statement.