Ascot has announced a restructuring of its US operating and distribution model, consolidating seven business segments into five product verticals, creating a new US Regional Executive Leadership team, and expanding its North America distribution role.
The changes take effect October 1.
Brian Chiolan, currently executive vice president and head of management and professional liability, has been named US Regional Executive Officer, reporting to Matt Kramer, CEO of Ascot US, with responsibility for aligning regional distribution priorities with underwriting strategy across the business.
Oliver Ade, previously senior vice president and Central Region partnership engagement leader, becomes executive vice president and regional executive for Central, while Jeff Canfield, formerly executive vice president and head of specialty casualty, becomes regional executive for the West.
Ascot said it is still recruiting for the Northeast and Southeast regional executive roles.
Dane Lopes, currently head of US partnership engagement and strategy, has been named head of North America distribution, reporting to Steve Goldman, Ascot's group head of distribution, marketing and communications.
In the new structure, US members of Ascot's distribution team will also serve as National Broker Relationship Managers, each assigned specific trading partner relationships with a focus on deepening engagement with national broker leaders and account executives, a role explicitly designed to sit between Ascot's underwriting teams and broker relationships rather than being organized purely around individual product lines.
Ascot's US business will now be organized around Marine & Specialty (Ocean Marine, Inland Marine and Environmental), Casualty (E&S Casualty, Excess Casualty, Workers' Compensation and Shared Risk Casualty), Surety, Financial Lines (AscotPRO and AscotEXEC), and Alternative Risk Solutions (Captives, Portfolio Solutions and Trade Credit).
Ted Mavraganis, previously senior vice president and head of environmental, has been named executive vice president and head of Marine & Specialty. Mark Benz continues leading Alternative Risk Solutions, and Tara North continues leading Surety. Ascot is still recruiting leaders for the Casualty and Financial Lines verticals.
This reorganization arrives while Ascot's US operation is still actively adding underwriting talent rather than settling into a mature, static structure. The unit Kramer now oversees traces back to his own arrival in 2021, when Insurance Business reported Ascot hired Kramer from Arch Insurance Group specifically to lead the buildout of its US specialty platform, reporting directly to group president Jonathan Zaffino.
Since then, Ascot has continued expanding its US bench steadily, adding four excess casualty underwriters in a single hiring push and, in late 2024, recruiting Nationwide's Peter Trochev to build out its financial institutions practice, growth that has continued into 2026 with a new US chief financial officer appointed in March. Ascot itself has operated under Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ownership since being acquired and restructured under the Ascot Group Limited holding company, giving the US business the kind of patient, institutional capital backing that supports this level of structural investment mid-growth rather than only after a business has fully matured.
For brokers with existing Ascot relationships, the most consequential change is the new National Broker Relationship Manager structure layered on top of regional leadership, since it's designed specifically to give national broker leaders and account executives a consistent point of contact who can connect them across Ascot's full range of products and regions rather than requiring separate relationships with each product line.
Brokers working across multiple Ascot verticals, marine, casualty, surety, financial lines or alternative risk, should expect this restructuring to simplify how submissions and relationship management flow through the company, though the timing, with Casualty and Financial Lines vertical leaders still to be hired alongside two open regional executive seats, means some of that promised connectivity is still being built rather than fully in place as of the October 1 effective date.
