Reinsurance broker Ed has made five new appointments as it looks to expand its professional & executive risk operations, which will be led by Paul Richards as Managing Director.
The broker has named James Baird as Director, Neal Hughes as Divisional Director, Rupert Alabaster as Divisional Director, and James Faith as Producer/Broker.
Chris Bonard, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ed Specialty, commented on the appointments; “These appointments exemplify the scale of our ambitions at Ed. In every line of business we want to bring together the market’s leading talent to complement our existing expertise. Our professional risk offering is a recognised market leader which boasts a number of sector leading businesses within its portfolio.
“With these appointments our new professional and executive risks team will be second to none and I am certain that they will quickly establish themselves as the leading providers of solutions for businesses in the financial institutions and professional services sectors and in international financial centres.”
The new appointees will work together with Ed’s established professional risk offering led by Mark Lowndes, who has been with the company since 2004.
Richards is an industry veteran with over 30 years insurance experience, nearly 20 of which he spent as a partner at brokerage JLT and senior partner at Glencairn (latterly Willis Group).
He led Willis Towers Watson’s financial institutions team at FINEX division and most recently led sales development as an executive director of their financial lines division before joining Ed to head up the professional & executive risk team.
Richards said the team would grow its cyber capabilities and expand partnerships with other independent retail brokers and Brokerslink members to create opportunities and solutions for their clients.
He said; “The opportunity to expand our team and offering to clients at Ed is clear. We are combining the broad and deep expertise of the expanded team to deliver personalised client service within Ed’s unique business model.
“In certain sectors of the insurance market we may be reaching a tipping point, meaning clients in this space will require brokers with the requisite experience, deep market relationships and speed of response to deliver results.”
Baird joins the firm from Willis Towers Watson where he most recently served as executive director, FINEX, and brings more than 20 years of experience to the role.
Hughes also joins the firm from Willis Towers Watson, where he served as a divisional director of the FINEX division.
Also joining from Willis Towers Watson is Faith, who most recently served as a divisional director focusing on servicing financial institutions and professional clients in the FINEX division.
Alabaster joins Ed from BMS, where he took on the role of Group Director, Professional and Financial Services.
