Specialist underwriting agencies Verve Risk Services, Westfield Specialty International, and Pen Underwriting have each made notable appointments and business moves, signalling further developments in their respective underwriting operations.
Verve Risk Services has named Gordon Steward (pictured above, left) as head of forestry. The appointment forms part of Verve’s strategy to broaden its mid-market MGA operations across multiple product lines, supported by Lloyd’s and Company markets.
Steward will concentrate on underwriting forestry risks for small to medium-large enterprises across Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He will be responsible for building a specialty portfolio that incorporates both traditional and parametric solutions, with an additional capacity to design products aligned with climate change and ESG-related client needs.
Steward previously served as managing director, forestry, at DUAL Group and brings nearly four decades of industry experience.
Verve, founded in 2016 as an underwriting cell within Castel Underwriting Agencies Limited, initially focused on professional and management liability products for insurers, agents, and brokers in markets including the USA, Canada, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Barbados.
A management buyout in 2023 by Scott Simmons and Alan Lambert, backed by B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc, enabled the company to move forward as an independent MGA.
Westfield Specialty International has appointed Mark Benbow to lead its newly launched fine art and specie team.
Based in London, Benbow joins with more than 35 years of experience in the insurance sector. He most recently spent 13 years at AXIS as part of its fine art and specie underwriting unit.
His appointment follows the recent additions of Tom Robinson as senior underwriter and Lucia Fowler as underwriter, both of whom joined last month. The hires mark Westfield’s entry into the fine art and specie market, with a team now in place to drive underwriting activity in this specialty segment.
Earlier this month, Westfield Specialty also expanded its reinsurance capabilities with the appointment of Nate Field as class underwriter for casualty treaty reinsurance.
Pen Underwriting has appointed Lorraine Malcolm (pictured above, right) as senior underwriter for Scotland within its Commercial Risk Managed team. Effective April 22, Malcolm will be based in Glasgow and will support brokers and clients throughout the UK.
Malcolm brings over 30 years of experience in commercial underwriting and trading across property and casualty lines. Prior to joining Pen, she held the role of property & casualty manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland at Allianz Insurance.
Her previous roles include senior trading underwriter at Aviva in the Corporate & Specialty Risk division and technical development underwriter at Axa. Her background includes managing large and complex risks, developing delegated authority schemes, and providing technical expertise and broker engagement to support portfolio growth.
Earlier this year, Pen Underwriting also appointed Robert Dobson as marine claims manager, bringing more than 40 years of industry experience focusing on marine claims management and adjusting.
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