Artex has lured Peter Mullen away from the chief executive’s role at Aon Captive and Insurance Management to rejoin the company after seven years.

Mr Mullen will become CEO-elect of Artex, an alternative risk management subsidiary of broker Arthur J Gallagher.

One of Artex’s founders in 1997, Mr Mullen was a member of its executive team until he left for Aon in 2011.

He will begin his new position at Artex in March 2019 after fulfilling his contractual obligations at Aon.

Artex said David McManus would remain its chief executive officer until July 1, 2019, when Mr Mullen will assume those executive responsibilities while Mr McManus takes the chairman’s role.

Mr Mullen is considered one of the top executives in the captive management industry, having placed second on Captive Review’s Power 50 list, published in January this year, after topping the rankings in the previous two years.

“Succession planning is a core competency of our company,” Mr McManus said. “As our executive committee considered the future leadership of Artex, we immediately thought of Peter and the value we could create by reuniting the team that originally founded Artex,” McManus added.

“We’ve grown significantly over the past several years and are proud to now be the third-largest captive manager, according to Business Insurance. I’m confident Peter’s technical risk understanding, coupled with his creativity and innovation, will continue to drive significant growth for Artex in 2019 and beyond.”