Burns & Wilcox Brokerage, a subsidiary of H.W. Kaufman Group, has announced the opening of a new office in Boston and the addition of five brokers to its Northeast team.
Cooper O’Connor, Brian Sullivan and Josh de Lara will join the Boston office, while Ryan Ascenzo and Alex Arnold will join the New York City team.
“Actively recruiting and retaining top talent remains a priority at Burns & Wilcox Brokerage to help drive our business forward and support our anticipated growth,” said Denis Brady, president of Burns & Wilcox Brokerage. “Our teams continue to generate record-breaking new business results, despite the changing market and economic conditions.
“We look forward to having our newest top brokers bring their strong market intel as they complement our current capabilities and bench of notable hires across North America.”
O’Connor joins the company as senior professional broker; Sullivan as senior casualty broker; and de Lara as associate broker for professional liability. O’Connor and Sullivan will report to Adrian Smith, managing director of Burns & Wilcox Brokerage while De Larea will report to O’Connor.
O’Connor comes to Burns & Wilcox from RLA Insurance Intermediaries, where he most recently served as vice president of professional and management liability. De Lara also joins from RLA Insurance Intermediaries, where he served as associate broker for professional liability. Sullivan joins Burns & Wilcox from Keating, where he served as P&C Northeast vice president.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the Northeast with our new office in Boston and expanded teams,” Smith said. “There has been an increase in market capacity and overall activity with construction and real estate markets in this region, and the addition of our new talent will be key to serving both our clients and partners.”
In the New York office, Ascenzo will serve as senior professional broker, and Arnold as senior casualty broker. Both will report to Brady.
Ascenzo comes to Burns & Wilcox Brokerage from ARC Excess & Surplus, where he served as a management and professional liability broker. He previously held roles at Chubb Specialty Insurance. Arnold joins the company from CRC Insurance Services, and has more than eight years of experience, specializing in the construction and real estate industries within the New York City area.
In a release, Burns & Wilcox Brokerage noted that it is seeing robust results this year, with overall and new business revenue significantly ahead of 2020 production and that 2020 was a record year for the company, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
