Specialty MGA Optio Group has hired one of Singapore’s credit and political risk leaders to widen its underwriting in Asia-Pacific.
Optio has appointed Jamie Jeffers (pictured) as managing director of Optio Asia, effective immediately, the company said on November 5. Based in Singapore, Jeffers will lead the next phase of Optio’s growth in the region, expanding its underwriting capabilities and looking for new business opportunities.
Optio’s Asian operations rest on Circles Group, the Luxembourg-based film, events and contingency MGA it acquired, which has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore. Building on that base, Optio said it intends to broaden its specialty offering, evaluate additional classes of business, and deepen relationships with brokers, capacity providers and other partners across the region.
Jeffers joins from Canopius, where he was head of credit and political risk, Asia-Pacific, and head of the global underwriting committee. Optio said he built the regional credit and political risk business into a profitable operation and oversaw a substantial international underwriting portfolio. He has also held senior roles at Willis Towers Watson and Westpac.
“Asia-Pacific is a key market for us as we continue to build a broader specialty insurance platform,” said Deepak Soni, chief executive of Optio Group. “Circles Group provides an established regional platform from which to develop new capabilities.”
Jeffers said the region offers significant opportunities “for a specialty platform with the right underwriting expertise, distribution network and capacity partnerships”.
Canopius has already filled his former role. It named Jack Hullah, previously regional product lead for Asia credit and political risk at AXA XL, as head of credit and political risk, APAC, starting on November 10, as part of three specialist hires in the region.
For brokers in Asia-Pacific, the appointments mean changes on both sides. Optio becomes a specialty MGA to watch for new appetite beyond contingency risks, although it has not said which classes it will add. Brokers placing credit and political risk with Canopius will have a new senior underwriting contact from next week.
