Two senior London market appointments this week sit on opposite sides of the same capital flow. Reinsurance capacity is abundant, pricing is still falling, and insurers are now hiring specifically to manage that shift - which is exactly what UK brokers should be factoring into their next renewal conversation.
Aon has named David Crofts (pictured, left) as global head of capital solutions for financial sponsors, effective August 1, 2026. He'll report to Joe Peiser, CEO of Risk Capital for Aon, in a role aimed at financial sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and other institutional investors looking to put capital into insurance and reinsurance-linked opportunities.
That's the same pool of investor capital that has pushed global reinsurance capital to a record high of roughly $660 billion, according to Guy Carpenter - a figure quoted in US dollars, though the pricing effect is being felt just as directly in the London and UK markets. Crofts will work with investors to identify and evaluate opportunities across the insurance and reinsurance ecosystem, drawing on Aon's wider Risk Capital business for market access and analysis.
The title is global, but the role is anchored in London and built on an EMEA track record: Crofts rejoined Aon in 2025 as head of financial sponsors for EMEA. Aon hasn't said whether the global mandate changes his day-to-day focus on European and UK-based capital, or simply extends his existing remit further afield. He returns to Aon after almost eight years at Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, where he was executive director of enterprise risk management - background that lines up well with a role connecting institutional investors to insurance market opportunities. He previously worked as a managing director in Aon's Global Risk Consulting business.
QBE has appointed Alistair Nappin as head of outward reinsurance for its international division, a London-based role covering reinsurance strategy across the UK, Europe and Asia. He'll report to Stephanie Cryer, chief underwriting officer of QBE International, and joins early next year, subject to regulatory checks, from Munich Re, where he currently heads ceded reinsurance and serves as chief underwriting officer of underwriting strategy for the global specialty insurance division - giving him a reinsurer's-eye view of exactly the capacity QBE, as a cedant, buys.
The appointment lands at a good moment to be on the buying side of that trade. Property catastrophe reinsurance rates fell a further 16% at the July 2026 midyear renewal, according to Gallagher Re - accelerating from a 12% decline at January 1 - while Howden Re recorded UK programme reductions of 15–20% at the start of the year. That's the same wall of capital Crofts will now help direct into the market showing up as real, negotiable pricing relief for cedants like QBE.
Anyone advising commercial clients on property, casualty or other cat-exposed lines heading into their next renewal should read these two hires as the same story from both ends. When reinsurers have this much capital chasing business, that pressure typically works its way down to primary pricing and capacity, giving brokers more room to negotiate on behalf of insureds than they've had over the past few renewal cycles. Whether that softening holds through the rest of 2026, or a major loss event resets it first, will decide how much of that room actually reaches clients' premiums.
