Headquarters address: Angel Place, Level 28, 123 Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2000, Australia
Year established: 2007
Size (employees): 36
Office locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
Underwriting expertise: Professional indemnity, general liability, financial lines, and cyber insurance
Key people: Scott Jerome (head), Wade Cadman (underwriting manager), Maya Lazarus (claims manager), Marcus Kadir (systems and project manager)
Brooklyn Underwriting is a specialist underwriting agency owned and managed by AXA XL. It offers a range of property, casualty, financial lines, and specialty insurance tailored for the coverage needs of SMEs across Australia. The company is supported by specialist, locally-based underwriting and claims teams in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
Brooklyn Underwriting is a member of the Underwriting Agencies Council (UAC). It was acquired by AXA XL – then known as XL Catlin – in 2016 and became a part of one of the world’s largest property and casualty (P&C) commercial lines platforms.
Brooklyn Underwriting’s insurance products are customised to match each business’ unique needs. These offerings are supported by a specialist underwriting team with recognised experience in SME financial lines, general liability, and property insurance.
The company’s current insurance portfolio includes:
Jerome was appointed to lead the company in August 2022. Prior to this, he was the Australian operations lead for AXA XL. Jerome boasts extensive experience in the underwriting and broking space across a wide range of businesses, from property, casualty, and professional lines to construction, motor, and marine. He has held senior leadership roles for different industry players, including as senior associate at Kennedy Reid – Insurance and finance operations manager at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group.
Cadman has held the role of underwriting manager for the company since August 2021. Before joining Brooklyn, he served as professional risks manager at Austbrokers Countrywide. Cadman also had stints with Bovill Risk & Insurance Consultants, ACS Financial, Aon, and CGU.
Lazarus has been with AXA XL since 2011 and has taken the role of claims manager for Brooklyn Underwriting in April 2020. Prior to this, she served as a senior claims specialist for financial lines at AXA XL. Lazarus has also held leadership positions in several other major industry players, including DUAL Australia, QBE, and Aon.
Kadir took on the role of systems and project manager for the company in November 2021. Before this, he served as senior project manager for Allianz Australia. He also had stints as head of projects at Police Bank Ltd and manager of digital strategy & transformation at Capgemini.
Brooklyn Underwriting has been a regular recipient of Insurance Business Awards. In 2022, the company was recognised in the following categories:
See this year's best young professionals under 35 making a name for themselves
Find out if you, or one of your colleagues, made the list
26 industry leaders gave their time
Brokers once again have an opportunity to rank their agency partners
