Brokers placing business with Antares Global will see no change to their underwriting contacts on the commercial or retail side, despite a significant restructure announced following the death last month of chief executive Michael van der Straaten (pictured), who died unexpectedly after a short illness.
The specialist re/insurance group, part of Qatar Insurance Group (QIC), confirmed Mark Graham and Pantelis Koulovasilopoulos will both continue in their existing roles, giving brokers continuity at the level that matters most day to day.
Graham remains commercial CEO, leading a division comprising AMAL Syndicate 1274 and Antares Re in Bermuda. Koulovasilopoulos remains retail CEO, overseeing Antares Insurance Company Limited and Scorpius MGA.
For brokers with existing appetite and placement relationships across these entities, that continuity will offer relief as the business absorbs the sudden loss of its chief executive.
The change more likely to affect brokers' service experience is a restructuring of previously shared functions. Claims, actuarial, compliance and risk, along with certain operational teams, will be separated to support Retail and Commercial directly, sitting under Koulovasilopoulos and Graham respectively rather than as centralised group functions.
Antares said the intention was to give each business unit its own dedicated specialist support. For brokers with live claims running through Scorpius MGA or Antares Insurance Company, or through AMAL Syndicate 1274 or Antares Re, that split could mean faster or more specialised handling, though brokers with claims currently in progress may want to confirm directly with their contacts how the transition is being managed rather than assume immediate improvement.
Overall oversight of Antares Global will sit with Ahmed El Tabbakh, QIC's group chief business officer for international operations, who took interim charge of the business in the days after van der Straaten's death and will now continue in that role while the leadership team reports directly to him.
Kevin Wenzel, previously chief financial officer, takes on an expanded brief as CEO of Antares Global Management, the group's central service company, with the Legacy division under Jagdis Barber now reporting to Wenzel rather than directly into the CEO office.
None of these appointments name a permanent successor to van der Straaten, and the company has not given a timeline for when a permanent CEO might be named.
For brokers with long-dated or renewal-heavy relationships, that remains an open question, particularly if strategic decisions on capacity allocation or growth appetite end up waiting on a confirmed long-term CEO.
Van der Straaten had more than 40 years of experience in insurance and reinsurance. He joined Qatar Re in late 2016, was named the reinsurer's chief underwriting officer in 2017 and became its permanent chief executive in April 2019. He was appointed chief executive of QIC Global, the Antares predecessor entity, effective March 1, 2020, having also held senior roles earlier in his career at Chubb, Canopius and Europa Re. He went on to oversee the unification of Qatar Re and QIC Global, the rebrand to Antares in 2022, and the 2024 restructuring into separate retail and commercial divisions that still underpins the group today.
"Antares and QIC's thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with Mike's family and loved ones during this difficult time," the company said in a statement following news of his death.
The restructure reads as a deliberate effort to keep the underwriting relationships they rely on stable while sharpening claims and operational support underneath them.
The bigger unresolved question, who leads Antares permanently and whether that person shifts strategic direction, is one brokers will want to keep watching.
