When reinsurance capital hits record levels and rates are falling at their steepest pace in over a decade, firms do not compete on price alone. They compete on people.
Dedicated reinsurance capital is projected to reach US$705 billion by the end of 2026, according to AM Best. Property catastrophe rate-on-line has fallen 16% at mid-year, per Guy Carpenter.
When price is no longer the differentiator, the broker market competes on talent, geography and line-of-business depth. Five appointments announced this week reflect that pressure.
Conduit Holdings has appointed Mark Pickering as chief financial officer of Conduit Re, the Bermuda-based multi-line reinsurer, starting 30 November 2026. He joins the board as an executive director.
Pickering arrives from Aspen Insurance Holdings, where he spent eleven years progressing from group treasurer to group CFO. In that capacity he was central to Aspen's NYSE listing in May 2025 and its subsequent Sompo acquisition, completed in February 2026. He holds CFA, CPA and ARe designations and earlier held senior roles at Platinum Underwriters and Marsh McLennan.
He succeeds Elaine Whelan, who joined Conduit as founding CFO in January 2021 and retires on 30 September 2026. Whelan's tenure covered the reinsurer's formative years as a listed Bermuda platform; her departure marks a generational change at the top of the finance function.
Chief executive Neil Eckert said Pickering's track record in capital management would be "invaluable" as the business executes its long-term strategy. Conduit Re's trajectory has been closely watched since it posted a solid Q1 recovery after a wildfire-heavy 2025.
Guy Carpenter has appointed David Duffy (pictured above, left) as global property leader and Chris Ross (pictured above, centre) as global casualty leader, both effective immediately. The roles are newly created and will be based in New York. Both will report to John Trace, chief executive of North America and chief broking officer at the firm.
Duffy has been with Guy Carpenter since 1992, most recently as co-president of global clients. Ross joined in 1999 and built the firm's New York casualty practice over more than two decades. Both bring over 25 years at the broker.
Property catastrophe rates have fallen at their steepest pace in over a decade, with risk-adjusted rate-on-line down 14.7% at January 2026 and steepening further through mid-year. In that environment, a broker's value to cedants increasingly turns on the quality of its placement intelligence and the depth of its line-of-business expertise – not on the rate environment itself.
Creating dedicated global leaders for property and casualty is a direct response to that shift. It also arrives as Guy Carpenter works to stabilise its senior ranks after losing around 80 professionals to Willis Re between mid-2025 and mid-2026. That period also produced High Court proceedings against two former executives.
Miller has appointed Harry Vickers as senior director, property for Miller Bermuda. Vickers joins from Gallagher with experience across complex property risks and the direct and facultative (D&F) market.
Vickers will run Miller's Bermuda property book, connecting Bermuda carrier capacity with the London team's placement expertise to service international clients. The appointment extends a build-out of Miller's Bermuda platform that the firm has signalled will continue through 2026.
For brokers placing large or complex property risks, a deepening Bermuda D&F presence from an independent specialist adds another access point to a market that continues to attract capital.
Howden Re has appointed David Simpson to its international broking team in London, focused on the Nordic region and continental Europe. Simpson joins in early 2027 after completing his current contractual obligations.
Simpson brings close to two decades of Nordic property and casualty reinsurance experience and longstanding cedant relationships across the region. The hire continues Howden Re's methodical build-out across European territories, which has included new operations in DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Iberia and Ireland over the past two years.
The Nordic corridor is now actively contested by at least three major brokers. Gallagher Re has made two fac reinsurance appointments in the region since early 2025. Howden Re's own growth – the broker has described itself as the fastest-growing in its peer group – has been partly funded by talent moves that have drawn legal action elsewhere.
Brown & Brown has estimated the full-year 2026 revenue impact of Howden's hiring push in the United States at between US$50 million and US$60 million. The dynamic playing out in the Nordics is a smaller-scale version of the same competition: established relationships, contested by well-capitalised challengers.
Mat Storr (pictured above, right) has been promoted to head of reinsurance at Antares Global, taking charge of the reinsurance portfolio and strategy for AMAL (Antares Managing Agency Limited) Syndicate 1274. He spent four years at the syndicate as class underwriter, property treaty before the promotion. He reports to Martin Campbell, chief underwriting officer and active underwriter at Antares Global.
Storr brings more than 15 years of treaty underwriting experience. Before joining Antares in 2022, he held senior treaty roles at two Lloyd's syndicates. He was head of international treaty at Agora Syndicate 3268 and held a leadership position at IQUW 1856. In that role, he was involved in building its treaty portfolio from year one.
The internal promotion carries a specific market signal. In a softening cycle, syndicates under pressure to defend margins have two broad options: recruit externally to access new relationships, or promote from within to maintain underwriting continuity. Campbell described the decision as evidence of "the depth of underwriting expertise we have across the syndicate." For brokers placing reinsurance with Antares, the message is stability – same approach, promoted leadership.
