Conduit Re has named Christian Dunleavy (pictured) as chief executive officer, effective March 1, 2027. Dunleavy was group president of Aspen Insurance Holdings and chief executive of Aspen Bermuda when Sompo Holdings acquired the business for US$3.5 billion in February. Neil Eckert, who co-founded Conduit in 2020, steps down on the same date.
Dunleavy spent a decade at Aspen. He joined as global head of property catastrophe reinsurance in 2015. He became group chief underwriting officer in 2022 and group president in August 2024.
Dunleavy was widely regarded as one of the architects of Aspen's underwriting turnaround under Apollo's ownership. That work culminated in a New York Stock Exchange listing in May 2025.
Conduit Re's CFO, Mark Pickering, also came from Aspen. Pickering joined in November 2026 after serving as Aspen's Group CFO through both the IPO and the Sompo acquisition.
Earlier in his career, Dunleavy held senior roles at AXIS Capital after beginning at RenaissanceRe. He currently chairs the Association of Bermuda International Companies and serves as a non-executive director of Coralisle Group and HSBC Bank Bermuda.
The underwriting background is relevant context for Conduit Re's current position. California wildfires added 15.3 percentage points to the 2025 combined ratio. The undiscounted full-year figure reached 101.5%, and the company's 11.1% return on equity trailed the broader Bermuda market's expected 17%.
Conduit has since accelerated a pivot from quota share toward excess of loss structures in its property book. Property catastrophe rates fell at their steepest pace in over a decade at the January 2026 renewal and have continued softening since.
"[Dunleavy] is a highly experienced reinsurance executive with a proven track record of underwriting excellence, leadership, and strategic execution."
Dunleavy inherits a platform Eckert built from nothing. Conduit launched in December 2020 and reached gross premiums written of US$1.24 billion by the end of 2025.
Eckert served as executive chairman before moving into the CEO role in May 2025, when co-founder Trevor Carvey retired.
At Aspen, Dunleavy oversaw an underwriting transformation that lifted the business to profitability and a public listing. Conduit's ongoing portfolio shift differs in scale and timing, but the profile fits what the board has described.
"[Eckert] has established a strongly capitalised underwriting platform that is well positioned to thrive in today's rapidly evolving insurance, reinsurance and capital markets," Dunleavy said.
