Lloyd’s of London third-party managing agent, Asta, has announced the launch of a new facultative reinsurance underwriting business through its flexible MGA platform, which will be led by Paul Witzenfeld.
The new underwriting business will begin accepting worldwide property facultative reinsurance risks, with a focus on primary and first-layer placements, from the April 1st, 2021 renewals.
Witzenfeld, who joins Asta from Castel Specialty, is a London-market veteran who started out as a broker. Prior to Castel, he served as Head of North American property at Pen Underwriting, and previously worked as a Senior Underwriter at ACE Global Markets and Liberty Syndicates.
“I wanted to achieve maximum benefit from the hardening market by having a new business up and running in time for June 1 renewals. In extremely short order, Asta has provided all of the complex services and experience necessary to launch an MGA, from licensing and compliance to actuarial and HR.
“As we discussed the challenges, they simply kept saying, ‘yes, we can do that’ and presenting practical solutions. Asta has made it happen,” said Witzenfeld.
Julian Tighe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asta, added: “We’re thrilled that Paul has decided to join us. His choice is testament to the flexibility and growing popularity of our MGA services. We’ve created a plug-and-play platform that rapidly accommodates the ambitions of entrepreneurial underwriters to embrace market opportunities as they emerge.
“It builds on the success of Arma Underwriting, launched in 2017 and writing MENA-region business, and the creation of David Ashby’s specialist equine insurer a year ago.”
