Conduit Re has engaged Winfried Knust (pictured) as an external underwriting consultant to support growth in credit, surety, political risk, and mortgage reinsurance. Those classes do not currently appear among Conduit Re’s stated specialty lines, which include aviation, marine, energy, engineering and construction, and political violence, according to the company’s own product disclosures. Knust operates through his own firm, WK Insurance Consulting, and will work alongside head of specialty Marc Bearman and the broader specialty team to execute Conduit Re’s underwriting strategy in these lines.
The engagement arrives as Conduit Re’s specialty segment faces a difficult pricing environment. Specialty premiums declined 4.7% in the first half of 2026, and the segment recorded an undiscounted combined ratio of 104.8%, weighed down partly by losses connected to the Middle East conflict, according to Conduit’s interim results. The lines Knust is being brought in to develop carry a different risk profile from the catastrophe-exposed specialty classes Conduit Re currently writes. Credit and surety reinsurance has historically produced lower combined ratios, and the non-catastrophe nature of the class appeals to reinsurers seeking more consistent returns.
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According to Conduit Re, Knust most recently served as underwriting manager and head of Zurich operations at Navigators Re, where he managed a global team writing trade credit, surety, and political risk business. Before that, he held senior underwriting roles at Aspen Insurance Holdings, developing credit reinsurance portfolios over more than a decade. His LinkedIn profile lists his Navigators tenure as December 2018 to December 2022 and his Aspen role as March 2008 to November 2018. He established WK Insurance Consulting in January 2023.
Cedant relationships carry significant weight in CPRI reinsurance. According to Howden Re, the reinsurance side of the CPRI market relies on a small group of recognized lead underwriters, and limited participation from specialist capacity can constrain growth for cedants seeking coverage. Knust’s track record across two major platforms gives him the market access that Conduit Re does not currently have in these lines, which is the practical case for the consulting structure over a direct hire.
Stephen Postlewhite, Conduit Re’s chief underwriting officer, described the engagement as supporting plans to “selectively enhance” the company’s product appetite, with Knust and the specialty team working to identify attractive areas for portfolio diversification. That language signals a scoping phase rather than a committed expansion at scale.
The CPRI market has been growing. Howden Re’s credit and political risk insurance team, in a report published in January 2026, recorded 10% growth in US credit, surety, and fidelity lines in the first half of 2025, compared with 5% for major US commercial lines.
Additional reinsurance capacity has entered the market since, and Howden Re noted that gradual softening is expected to continue. For Conduit Re, which has been repositioning its specialty book toward excess-of-loss structures and away from lines facing competitive pricing pressure, credit and surety reinsurance represents a different risk and return profile worth testing. Whether Knust’s engagement leads to a material portfolio commitment will depend on what cedant opportunities the team identifies and at what terms.
