The Hartford has confirmed Dave Draper as chief underwriting officer of its UK operations, making permanent an interim appointment he has held since earlier this year. The insurer has also named Bertie Troughton as head of upstream energy, international, in a separate move that strengthens its energy underwriting capability in the London market.
Draper, who is based in London, stepped into the interim CUO role following the departure of Colin Sprott and will continue to report to Carl Bach, The Hartford's head of international business. He previously served as head of third-party lines and, before that, head of casualty, international. Earlier in his career, Draper was head of international casualty at Navigators Group, which The Hartford acquired in a deal announced in August 2018 and completed the following year for approximately $2.2 billion.
Troughton joins from MS Amlin, where he served as lead underwriter, and will report to Julian Samuel, The Hartford's international head of first-party lines.
The two appointments reflect the continued build-out of The Hartford's London-based international business, which operates primarily through Lloyd's Syndicate 1221, managed by Hartford Underwriting Agency Limited. Syndicate 1221's underwriting capacity was increased by £45 million to £400 million for 2025, up from £355 million in 2024 and £325 million in 2023, with the 2025 business forecast pointing to deliberate expansion of core lines following a period of portfolio remediation.
The syndicate serves as The Hartford's main underwriting platform for international operations outside the US. Syndicate 1221 has been recognised by Lloyd's as an outperforming syndicate, contributing approximately 1% of the total Lloyd's marketplace.
The acquisition of Navigators gave The Hartford its Lloyd's platform and London market foothold. Navigators, founded in 1974, was a market leader in global marine, construction and energy as well as US excess casualty and surplus lines, with an established Lloyd's presence and growing underwriting operations in Europe, Asia and Latin America at the time of the deal. Draper's progression through Navigators and its successor business makes him a direct product of that inheritance.
Troughton's appointment to the upstream energy role comes as the Lloyd's energy market delivers sustained profitability. The Lloyd's market returned an underwriting profit on non-marine energy risks in 2025 broadly in line with its 2024 result, predominantly driven by the property segment and relatively low loss levels in upstream. MS Amlin Syndicate 2001, from which Troughton departs, was among the syndicates that grew its energy book most significantly in the period and reported one of the largest underwriting profits in the non-marine energy segment in 2025.
The upstream energy class, which covers oil and gas exploration, drilling and production facilities, has historically been one of the London market's most technically demanding specialisms. The Hartford's recruitment of a dedicated lead from within Lloyd's signals its intention to compete more actively in that space as capacity conditions remain supportive.
The wider international business has been expanding beyond London in parallel. Earlier in 2025, The Hartford launched a new service company in Singapore through Syndicate 1221, initially focused on financial lines and credit and political risks, as part of a broader strategy to deepen its presence across Asia.
