Distinguished Programs has stepped into the reinsurance market with the launch of Distinguished Reinsurance, a new platform that opens with a dedicated property reinsurance group.
The New York-based managing general agent also named Frank DiPaola (pictured) as president of DistinguishedRe Property. DiPaola brings more than 25 years of reinsurance experience to the role.
His team includes facultative and treaty underwriters, pricing actuaries, catastrophe modeling professionals, and legal specialists.
The move builds on a period of significant change at Distinguished. White Mountains Insurance Group acquired a 51% majority stake in the MGA in a $230 million deal that closed in September 2025.
Distinguished’s existing leadership team remained in place, with White Mountains backing the company’s continued growth strategy.
Coverage is underwritten by Antares Reinsurance Company Limited, a Bermuda-licensed reinsurer rated A- by both AM Best and S&P.
Antares Re is the reinsurance arm of the Antares Global insurance group, owned by QIC. It writes property, casualty, and specialty lines across its Lloyd’s and company market platforms.
The property reinsurance group offers excess of loss facultative, semi-automatic, and property treaty placements with capacity of up to $50 million. Placement capabilities cover US domestic and international property schedules, direct and brokered individual risk, facultative automatic, and treaty placements.
DistinguishedRe enters a property facultative market that has shifted sharply in buyers’ favor. Average property facultative rates in the US and Canada fell 25% to 30% at the January 2026 renewals, according to Gallagher Re. New MGAs and consortiums have added to competitive pressure across the segment.
Jason Rotman, president of Distinguished, said the reinsurance push was a natural progression for the MGA.
“Ultimately, our strategy is to invest behind experienced and talented teams, and we are thrilled that Frank and his colleagues have joined us,” he said. “We are equally excited to work with the Antares team as we collectively build this program.”
DiPaola said the group would bring a disciplined approach to the property reinsurance market: “Our focus is on delivering responsive underwriting and tailored facultative excess of loss solutions that align with each client’s needs.”
Distinguished said the move fits its broader model of building specialized underwriting platforms through experienced teams. The company operates under what it calls a “support with autonomy” philosophy.
The reinsurance launch follows Distinguished’s recent additions of Marine Cargo, Crisis Management, and Transactional Risk programs. The company has managed specialty property and casualty programs since 1995, placing coverage across commercial real estate, cyber, surety, and fine arts and collectibles, among other sectors.
