Ed Broking, the globally active reinsurance, wholesale and specialty insurance broker, is planning to open its first office in Bermuda in 2019, the latest expansion for the firm.
Ed Broking is already active across Europe, Asia and the United States, with offices in London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Paris, the Channel Islands and Miami, amongst others.
Ed offers a wide range of wholesale insurance and reinsurance products, making markets in Bermuda key counterparties for its clients.
As a result, the establishment of a Bermuda office will enhance Ed’s broking team’s ability to liaise closely with Bermudian insurers and reinsurers, in order to secure capacity for clients.
Chris Bonard, current President and CEO of Group Production at Ed, has been appointed to lead the new office. He has more than 30 years’ industry experience and was part of the Executive Team that launched Ed in 2016.
He has previously served as the Managing Director of NMB Specialty and worked across the reinsurance division and main board at R K Carvill, having started his career with Guy Carpenter in 1986.
Premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda, The Hon. E. David Burt, JP, MP, met with Bonard last week to discuss the new office ambitions of the broker.
Burt noted that the Ed office would be open in 2019, saying, “We welcome them to the island as they create more jobs and opportunities for Bermudians.”
Steve Hearn, Group CEO of Ed Broking Group, commented on the announcement: “Ed is a global wholesale broker and that allows our clients to access capacity around the world directly through our network of offices. Bermuda represents an obvious opportunity for us to better serve our customers for whom the island is an important market.”
“With his first-class entrepreneurial sense and contacts among carriers, particularly across North America and the wider region, Chris is the ideal person to make this a success,” he continued.
Bonard added: “With a business that already spans key markets in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe, we’ve been keen to further enhance our commitment to the North American market. I look forward to the opportunity to shape our strategy in Bermuda, deepen my existing relationships with clients in the US, Canada and the Caribbean – and to seek out fresh ones.”
