Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from AXIS Re, Tysers, Allianz and more.
AXIS Re appoints Gino Smith as head of property EMEA and LatAm
AXIS Re, the reinsurance business segment of AXIS Capital Holdings, has named Gino Smith as head of property for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Latin America (LatAm), effective November 2019.
Based in Zurich, smith will oversee the firms Property Treaty reinsurance business in EMEA as well as LatAm. Smith will report to Andy Hottinger, president EMEA LatAm.
He will join AXIS Re after 19 years with AXA XL RE, most recently serving as head of property retro from International RE and chief underwriting officer of XL Re Europe SE, based in Zurich.
Prior to this, he was chief underwriting officer of XL Re Latin America, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Smith also held several senior underwriting roles for XL Re in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Bermuda, commencing his career in Buenos Aires as a property treaty underwriter.
Hottinger, shared: “Gino is a talented underwriter with a diverse professional background and underwriting experience that spans multiple geographies, including Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. He is well-respected by his peers and brings leadership and people skills that will benefit our EMEA LatAm Property reinsurance team and our clients.”
Lloyd’s broker Tysers announces new hub in Bermuda
Specialty Lloyd’s broker Tysers announced the launch of its new Bermuda-based affiliate and names Richard Tomkins as managing director to lead the new operations.
Tomkins has relocated from London to Bermuda to become managing director of Tysers Bermuda. He previously served as managing director of reinsurance at Tysers.
He has over 3 decades of insurance brokerage experience, covering both mainstream and specialty areas, predominantly in the treaty and binding authority lines of coverage. As a result of Tomkin’s move to lead Tysers Bermuda, Nick Harrap will become the new managing director of Reinsurance for Tysers.
Tomkins, said: “I’m excited to build the Tysers Bermuda office. Tysers Bermuda will provide access to additional insurance markets for our independent broker relationships globally. We see particularly attractive opportunities that will complement our specialty focus in both insurance and reinsurance, along with providing additional capacity for our clients globally, where other markets are not responding to the demand. Overall, this will provide our clients with the best possible solutions. We are also actively seeking to build our broking capabilities and expertise in Bermuda to match our needs as we grow the office.”
Jason Collins, co-head of Tysers, said: “Tysers sees the expansion of the office in Bermuda, to serve its worldwide clients, as an important part of our overall strategic plan. Our commitment to Bermuda is demonstrated by moving Richard, an important leader of Tysers, to lead this new venture. He has supported the growth of our London business over the last 13 years and is the ideal person to execute this part of our strategy.”
Alastair Warren-Upham joins Allianz as new London markets manager
Following the retirement of Martyn Davenport, Allianz Insurance has appointed Alastair Warren-Upham as new London markets manager.
In his new position, Alastair will oversee the distribution strategy for Allianz’s London branches and engagement with the London market.
He joined Allianz in 2009 on the corporate management programme and since then he has moved up through the business. Starting in the market management team, he then progressed to property, casualty and motor underwriter in London, followed by distribution manager for Allianz London Market Real Estate (LMRE), before becoming key account manager for the London region.
He most recently served as a strategic account manager, where he managed and set the strategic direction for the relationships with some of Allianz’s largest broker accounts at a national level.
Nick Hobbs, Allianz’s director of broker markets, said: “I’d like to thank Martyn for the fantastic contribution he has made to our business during his 19 years here. We wish him all the very best for the future. He is well succeeded by Alastair who has done a sterling job as a strategic account manager, playing a key role in some very significant initiatives and projects.”
Tom Leonard, regional manager, London, added: “We are delighted to welcome someone of Alastair’s calibre back to London. He will be instrumental to further developments for Allianz in the London region.”
TransRe announces regional leadership reshuffle
TransRe has announced multiple changes to its regional leadership teams and global business development function within Latin America and Continental Europe.
In a recent press release TransRe said the changes are designed to better position the company to take advantage of current and future market opportunities.
Louise Rose has been appointed chief executive officer of TransRe London limited, effective 1 September 2019. She will succeed Geoff Peach, who is retiring after 27 years with TransRe.
Rose joined TransRe in 1997 from the National Vulcan Engineering Insurance Group. Since then she has held several roles across multiple lines of business. In those roles she has been responsible for setting and executing the underwriting strategy, business planning, staff development and customer relationship management for TransRe London. In addition, she has been increasingly involved in regulatory and governance matters.
Kyle Rhodes has been named as chief executive officer of TransRe Asia Pacific, a newly created position. He will be responsible for overseeing TransRe’s four regional offices and he will support the regional team as they develop and grow their customer and broker relationships.
He joined the business in 2006 from Employers Re where he formed and led the National & Specialty team at TransRe’s US Custom division before leading that division from 2012 to 2016. Most recently Rhodes created and led TransRe’s Business Development unit, where he concentrated on co-ordinating relationships with large global reinsurance buying groups.
Both Rose and Rhodes will report to Paul Bonny, president of TransRe’s European, Middle Eastern, African and Asia Pacific businesses.
Additionally Francesca Marc-Antonio joins TransRe as global head of business development, taking over from Rhodes. Marc-Antonio joins from JLT Re, where she served as global head of client relationship management. Prior to that, she spent 17 years at Swiss Re as head of marketing for the U.S. Property & Casualty Broker team, as well as head of the Global Broker Group.
In her new role, Marc-Antonio will work with all regions and all lines of business to drive data-based, profitable growth. She will report to Mike Sapnar, president and CEO of TransRe.
Globe Underwriting appoints Peter Rossell as head of engineering underwriting
UK based managing general agent (MGA), Globe Underwriting has named Peter Rossell as head of engineering underwriting.
As part of its strategy to broaden its offering to clients, Globe is building up an engineering portfolio that will focus on construction and operational power business.
Rossell joins Globe Underwriting with over 40 years of engineering underwriting experience and brings a deep knowledge of the sector and a strong network of contacts.
He most recently served as an underwriter at Pioneer within its engineering division. Rossell has previously held roles at Axa Re, GE Frankona, Beazley and ANV.
Rossell, commented: “I’m delighted to be joining Globe. It’s exciting to be building a new team and a new product that will offer exceptional value to our clients and contribute to the further growth of Globe.”
Beazley announces the appointment of Will Roscoe to lead smart tracker syndicate
Specialist insurer Beazley has appointed Will Roscoe as head of Beazley’s ‘smart tracker’ special purpose syndicate 5623.
Roscoe joined Beazley from Willis in 2011 as an underwriter in the London based open market property team. He will now be responsible for setting the syndicate’s growth strategy, underwriting the portfolio and working closely with brokers to create new facilities. In his new role he will report to Beazley’s chief underwriting officer, Adrian Cox.
The smart tracker syndicate, which was set up in 2018, provides investors with the opportunity to track Lloyd’s market business whilst also providing returns that aim to be less volatile and consistently above the Lloyd’s average.
Adrian Cox, CEO, said: “Will has been closely involved in the development of the smart tracker and brings a deep knowledge of the London insurance market. His appointment will enable us to develop the syndicate’s role as a source of attractive low volatility investment opportunities for third-party capital.”
Roscoe, said: “I am excited to take on this new role and look forward to building on the momentum we’ve seen since launching Beazley’s smart tracker in 2018. We have written more than $50mn in gross premium so far this year, and we have ambitious growth plans.”
