Elaine Whelan, the chief financial officer and executive director of Bermuda-based Conduit Re, is to retire, parent firm Conduit Holdings said, in a move that removes one of the foundational figures at one of London's largest recent reinsurance listings.
Whelan will remain in her role to support the handover before stepping down from the board on Sept. 30. A formal search for her successor is underway, the company said, with further updates to follow.
She joined Conduit in January 2021 when the firm was still a start-up, having raised US$1 billion in its 2020 IPO – the largest start-up listing in London Stock Exchange history, by the company's own account.
The retirement announcement lands after a year of uneven results. Conduit reported a return on equity of 11.1% for 2025, down from 12.7% a year earlier and trailing the wider Bermuda market's expected 17%. The undiscounted combined ratio rose to 101.5% from 97.1%, while gross premiums written grew 6.9% to US$1.24 billion.
The numbers absorbed a US$119.1 million hit from the California wildfires, the largest single loss in Conduit Re's history, the Royal Gazette reported. Chief executive Neil Eckert said earnings had been "supported by strong investment performance" and "benign claims activity during the second half".
Eckert has signalled a shift in strategy, scaling back quota share business in favour of excess-of-loss treaties, in a bid to ease attritional losses, according to the company's interim disclosures.
Capital ratios held firm. Tangible net assets per share closed the year at US$7.14, with a Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement ratio of 252%, and the dividend was held at 36 cents per share.
Shares, however, have lagged the FTSE All Share Index by about 30% over the past six months, Stockopedia data shows. Analysts polled by TipRanks rate the stock a Moderate Buy, with an average 12-month price target of 461.80p.
Whelan's exit follows a broader governance refresh at the parent. Conduit named Richard Lightowler, Peter Mullen and Penny Shaw as non-executive directors with effect from March 26, in changes already disclosed. Lightowler and Shaw joined the audit and remuneration committees, while Mullen took a seat on remuneration.
The reshuffle has come as the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) tightens governance rules covering data policy, enterprise risk management and model documentation.
Whelan has more than three decades of finance and reinsurance experience. She joined Conduit from Lancashire Insurance Group, where she spent 14 years from 2006, rising to group chief financial officer in 2011 and serving as chief executive of Lancashire Insurance Company Limited from 2012 to 2020.
At the time of her Conduit appointment, Eckert called the hire "a major step for the business". Under her watch, the reinsurer's investment portfolio expanded to US$2 billion by the third quarter of 2025, generating a 5.4% return.
She trained as a chartered accountant in Glasgow and earlier held finance roles at Zurich Insurance Company in Bermuda.
