Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has announced that it is appointing Chaman Aggarwal to the position of Vice President, Property Underwriting Officer, months after the Buffet-led organization entered the Canadian market.
 
Chaman joins the insurer, which provides cover in property, casualty and financial lines, from the Property group at XL Catlin Canada. He has previously served in leadership roles at Marsh and Liberty International Underwriters.
 
In addition, he boasts several years of experience in underwriting and engineering at insurance and reinsurance companies in the U.S., Canada and Alberta.
 
Chaman brings more than 35 years of property underwriting and engineering experience to BHSI,” Dean LaPierre, Senior Vice President, Global Property Underwriting Officer, BHSI said in a statement. “Chaman joins Cathy Miller, Vice President, Property Underwriting Officer and I in supporting our rapidly expanding property portfolio worldwide.”
 
The University of Alberta alumnus will work out of the Toronto office.
 
This appointment represents a further investment in BHSI’s Canadian operations. Entering the country 21 days after the U.S. and shortly after it obtained licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore, BHSI hopes to become a “forever business” with domestic consumers.
 
“[Buffet) refers to us as a ‘forever business.’ He says, ‘if you’re going to build a ‘forever business’ then timing is irrelevant’ so we are quite committed to being in the markets that we are going to enter and we are committed to being there for a long time,” BHSI executive vice president told the Toronto Star in January.
 
Bresanahan considers Canada to be “a wonderful marketplace to operate in and we find it caters to underwriting companies that can be creative and responsive.” He hopes that the company will act on an average $25 million limit, with the possibility of more than $100 if clients have a “confident underwriting view on.”