Rokstone, the Aventum Group’s international (re)insurance MGA, has expanded its North American marine operation with the appointment of Alex Berisha as Head of US Marine Cargo and Derek Vandermyde as Underwriting Manager, Inland Marine.
The pair will be based in New York and are to join Rokstone next month after serving their respective notice periods.
Berisha is joining the company following from Liberty where for the past 17 years he was latterly Vice President US Marine Cargo Manager. He will be working with Mike Nukk who also previously spent 20 years at Liberty and was appointed Head of Marine at Rokstone last month.
A specialist in both retail and wholesale transportation, Vandermyde is joining Rokstone’s North America Marine team from Starr Insurance, where he was Senior Underwriter for Inland Marine. Prior to that he spent five years at Lexington Insurance as Senior Underwriter.
James Potter, CEO of Rokstone, commented: “It’s great to see the dynamic duo brought together again. Mike and Alex worked together for many years at Liberty and we’re thrilled to have their combined firepower on board. It’s a tried and tested partnership. Mike, Alex and Derek together make an incredibly strong team and I’m very excited about what lies ahead.”
With these new executives to its North American team Rokstone plans to grow the Marine portfolio in the region aggressively from a start up to $100m in five years, focussed on middle market North American business.
Mike Nukk, Head of Marine at Rokstone, said: “We’re quickly building one of the most experienced and dynamic Marine teams in the market. Rokstone has a reputation for creating market shifting technology and streamlining the underwriting process.
“The ability to be agile, digest risks quickly and provide solutions fast, combined with the team’s collective experience, will be a refreshing and powerful proposition. We fully expect to dominate the middle market Marine space in a few years’ time.”
