The Fidelis Partnership (TFP), a privately-owned managing general underwriter (MGU), has announced several senior promotions, including four new heads of business across specialty lines.
The four new heads of business include Grahame Dawson, who has been promoted to Head of D&F – London. He joined TFP in December 2022 and most recently served as Senior Property Underwriter. Before that, he spent 12 years at WTW, where he was Head of US Property Fac.
Mel Puskar has been promoted to Group Head of Credit. She has spent the past seven years at TFP, most recently serving as Head of Asset Backed Finance and Portfolio Credit Underwriting. Previously, she held roles at Genworth Financial and HSBC.
Oliver Searles has been named Head of Energy after serving as an underwriter within the Energy team at TFP since September 2024. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Vice President within the Marsh Specialty Energy & Power practice.
TFP has also promoted Jamie Graham to Head of Cargo, after serving as Marine Cargo Underwriter since February 2024. He previously worked as a broker at Amwins Global Risks.
Dawson, Puskar, Searles, and Graham will lead their respective classes of business, with TFP stating that these promotions reflect the depth of talent across its underwriting platform.
The company also announced additional promotions reflecting the continued growth of its underwriting operations, including Alex Burness as Senior Underwriter in the Property D&F team.
Alex Weiss Bueno has been named Deputy Head of Asset Backed Finance & Portfolio Credit.
Bernard Straeter, Senior Credit Portfolio Underwriter at TFP, takes on the additional role of Deputy Active Underwriter for Syndicate 2126.
Daniel Turner has been promoted to Senior Underwriter in the Construction & Renewable Energy team.
Liva Petersone becomes a Senior Underwriter in the Dublin office.
Michael Davern, UK CUO and Group Head of D&F Property and Energy at The Fidelis Partnership, commented, “These promotions celebrate the exceptional talent within TFP while also reflecting the outstanding growth we have achieved across the specialty classes in which we operate. Our reputation for underwriting leadership is testament to both the strength and the speed of the creative, high-conviction decisions that our underwriters make for clients all day, every day, around the globe. The success of those decisions and the quality of our people are the foundations on which TFP is built, and so it gives me great pleasure that we are a business that rewards achievements with recognition, progression and responsibility. I look forward to working closely with all of these colleagues to achieve our ambitious goals in the year ahead.”
