Alta Signa, the European boutique managing general agent (MGA), has launched a new European Marine underwriting business, which is set to focus on core marine lines of business, backed by the firm’s panel of insurance partners – Axeria IARD, SiriusPoint and Sompo International.
The unit’s team bring a deep level of specialist insurance expertise, and is headed up by Francesco Dubbioso, Head of Technical Underwriting for Marine, based in Genoa, Italy.
Dubbioso, who recently joined the organisation in September, has a broad range of insurance leadership experience in a career that spans over two decades, most recently as CEO of Mediterranea Underwriting.
Alta Signa has also confirmed that several other experienced names across the industry will be joining the new marine underwriting team too.
This includes: Danilo Fiore, Acting Head of Technical Underwriting for Hull and Yachts. Before joining Alta Signa, Fiore served as a Senior Marine Hull Underwriter with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions for over 10 years. Pior to that, he held a similar position with Assicurazioni Generali.
At the same time, Barbara Vida recently joined the team, taking on the role of Senior Cargo Underwriter. She previously worked for Mediterranea Underwriting, Liberty and XL.
Marie Lepelletier, a highly qualified Marine insurance law practitioner, also joins the team as Group Claims Manager having previously been with Generali Global Corporate & Commercial.
And lastly, Simona Ballestrero joins the team, taking on the role of Marine Technical Accounting and Operations Manager. She joined Alta Signa from Mediterranea Underwriting.
Gerard Van Loon, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The arrival of this brilliant new Marine underwriting team adds a new strategic arrow to the Alta Signa bow and I am thrilled they decided to join our MGA family. With the new Marine line of business, we aim to become even more meaningful to our distribution partners by broadening our portfolio beyond the Financial, Professional and Cyber Lines of business. We welcome the new team to Alta Signa and I know that we will benefit enormously from their broad range of highly relevant market experience and expertise.”
Dubbioso, said: “I am delighted to be launching our new Marine underwriting business and am extremely proud of the quality of the team we were able to attract. The European Marine market is expected to present niche growth opportunities in 2024 and beyond for those MGAs who are agile enough to address the unique challenges in this sector. In an environment where differentiation and relevance are key, I am extremely excited by the opportunities this presents for nimble businesses such as the one we have now assembled at Alta Signa. I can’t wait to start this new venture with a team of highly motivated experts.”
