James Gearey

James Gearey is the Managing Director of Personal Lines & Protection at Covéa Insurance plc. James has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, and has held various positions at both Covéa Insurance and Jaja Finance.

Gearey began their career at Covéa Insurance in April 2019 as the Corporate Development and Strategy Director. In this role, they were responsible for building out and developing the growth strategy for the UK business. James also had executive responsibility for the expansion of distribution, ecosystem and proposition opportunities with Affinity, Fin & InsurTech partnerships.

In August 2020, Gearey assumed interim responsibility for the Personal Lines business following changes to the executive team. James is also a member of the Covea Life board.

Prior to their current role, Gearey served as the Interim COO and Consultant at Jaja Finance from July 2018 to November 2018. In this role, they reported to the Chairman and CEO and worked closely with the executive team focused on operational readiness of FinTech start up Jaja’s mobile digital credit card and white label closed loop revolving credit facility. James was also responsible for coordinating and delivering due diligence for a white label digital credit card opportunity and a multi brand portfolio acquisition.

James Gearey has a MBA from Cranfield University - Cranfield School of Management, a Post Grad Diploma in Marketing - CIM from Cranfield School of Management, and a BSc in Management Sciences from the London School of Economics and Political Science, U. of London.

James Gearey reports to Adrian Furness, CEO. James Gearey works with Simon Kneller - Actuarial Director, Carolyn Callan - Commercial Lines Director, and Lisa Meigh - People Director.