Volante Global has appointed Demian Smith (pictured above) as chief executive officer, pending regulatory approval and the completion of existing contractual obligations.
Smith brings three decades of experience across the broking and underwriting sectors of the re/insurance market. His career began in 1995 and includes senior leadership roles focused on organisational transformation and strategic development.
He most recently served as head of mutual, agency and captive solutions and co-head of strategic partnerships at Guy Carpenter, where he spent five years. Prior to that, Smith was CEO of StarStone Group.
Martin Reith, who has been acting as interim CEO, will remain as chairman of Volante Global. Reith said Smith’s industry experience and career history made him a suitable choice to succeed him in the role.
“I am thrilled to be joining Volante Global at such a pivotal moment in its journey. The depth of talent across the organisation is impressive, and I look forward to working closely with colleagues around the world to help unlock even more value,” Smith said.
Earlier this month, Volante Global also appointed Peter Montanaro as a non-executive director and chair of Volante International Limited. Montanaro, previously market oversight director at Lloyd’s, brings oversight experience that is expected to support Volante’s expansion efforts across both its MGA and syndicate operations.
This year also saw the managing general agent (MGA) creating a new position to strengthen its reinsurance strategy, appointing Aaron Brockwell as head of outwards reinsurance. Brockwell’s remit includes optimising the group’s reinsurance structures and sourcing strategic capacity partners to support risk appetite across its expanding international footprint.
In addition, Volante Re – a new treaty reinsurance platform – was launched in June. As part of this initiative, Stuart Dale was named chief underwriting officer for treaty, joining David Martin in building out the platform’s risk appetite and underwriting approach.
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