Newly-launched property and casualty reinsurer Conduit Re has made a series of senior appointments to its underwriting, management and executive teams.
Among these, Greg Roberts has been appointed as Head of Property, Erik Soria as Head of US Casualty, Andrew Smith as Chief Risk Officer, and Keith Griffin as Chief Actuary.
Additionally, Chris Board was named as Head of International Property and Short Tail Specialty, while Marc Bearman has taken a role as Head of Specialty – Marine and Energy, and Bianca Harris will become Head of Human Resources.
Conduit Holdings’ shares were admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 7 December 2020 following the company’s IPO, which raised around $1.1 billion.
Conduit Re holds a Class IV license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and has been assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” by AM Best.
“We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the business,” said Trevor Carvey, CEO and Chief Underwriting Officer.
“We are now well into the 1/1 renewal season and are underwriting business on the lines we have been targeting. Market conditions continued to strengthen in the run up to completion of our IPO and we are very pleased with the quality and terms of what we are writing.”
Neil Eckert, Executive Chairman, also commented: “Conduit Re is off to a strong start, benefitting from the year of preparation we put into the plan prior to launch. We are pleased to recruit a number of high calibre individuals who fit with the team ethos we set out at IPO. We will issue a formal trading update to shareholders on 19th January 2021.”
Greg Roberts has 20 years underwriting experience, including 17 years at MS Amlin where he became Head of North American Property Treaty. He also held a key role in the establishment of Amlin Bermuda in 2006, and became Head of AmTrust Re in 2018.
Erik Soria, meanwhile, started his career as a casualty broker originally at Aon Benfield and latterly as an SVP of Willis Re’s casualty treaty division. In 2012, Soria became senior casualty treaty underwriter for QBE North America, where he also spent a year underwriting for QBE’s flagship Lloyd’s syndicate (Syndicate 566), and his most recent role was as SVP of US treaty casualty at Sirius.
Prior to joining Conduit Re, Andrew Smith Chief Risk Officer of Qatar Re, where he was responsible for establishing and managing the group’s risk management function. Previously, he held leadership roles with PwC in London and Bermuda and EY in Bermuda, and he has more than 20 years’ industry experience.
Keith Griffin was previously the Chief Actuary at Peak Capital, before which he was the Chief Actuary for Ariel Re based in Bermuda.
Next, Chris Board joins from Apollo Syndicate where he was as Head of International Treaty. Prior to this he spent 15 years at MS Amlin, originally underwriting international property and subsequently global specialty.
Marc Bearman started his career as a reinsurance broker, originally for Aon Re before joining Guy Carpenter and then JLT Re. He moved to underwriting in 2012, joining XL Re as the Global Head of Marine and Energy. Most recently he was the senior specialty underwriter for Axa XL in Bermuda
And finally, Bianca Harris previously spent 14 years with AIG in a variety of HR management roles including recruitment, training and development and administration. Bianca started her career with the US Navy where she spent six years specialising in HR and recruitment.
