Verdant Rock Limited, a Bermuda Monetary Authority-regulated Class 3B insurance company, has appointed Carolyn Thomas as Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO), Kevin Downs as Chief Actuary, and Sarah Demerling as Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, effective 2 November 2026.
Thomas is a Bermudian insurance professional with over 25 years’ experience in credit and political risk underwriting across both Bermuda and London markets.
In her new role, Thomas will lead Verdant Rock’s underwriting and will work with its origination and structuring team to build the insurer’s financial guarantee business.
Most recently, she served at Aon Reinsurance Solutions, and advised clients on credit reinsurance and placed Verdant Rock’s first 30% quota share reinsurance treaty.
Before this, she was Global Head of Credit and Political Risks at Aspen Insurance, leading teams across Bermuda, London, and Singapore.
Downs, as Chief Actuary, will provide actuarial oversight across underwriting and risk management, working closely with the underwriting, finance, and risk teams.
He has over three decades of experience in actuarial leadership and risk management across the global insurance and reinsurance industry, and was most recently Senior Vice President, Actuarial and Analytics at RenaissanceRe.
Demerling has over two decades of experience in the Bermudian legal market. She joins from Walkers (Bermuda), where she was a Partner, led the Bermuda Insurance practice, and led the Investment Funds practice with a focus in insurance-linked securities. She advised Verdant Rock on its Class 3B licensing and structuring and will lead the company’s regulatory affairs globally.
Tolga Uzuner, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Verdant Rock Limited, commented, “Sarah and Carolyn have each been part of the Verdant Rock story from the beginning. Sarah advised on our licensing and regulatory structure, and Carolyn placed our first reinsurance treaty.
“Having them join full time in these roles reflects how we have always planned to build this team: by formalizing relationships with the practitioners who already understand what we are building and why. Kevin brings more than 30 years of actuarial leadership. Together, these appointments strengthen our execution capacity at exactly the right moment.”
If readers recall, last month, Verdant Rock received a Financial Strength Rating of A (low) and Issuer Rating of A (low) from the global credit rating agency, Morningstar DBRS.
