Lloyd’s of London third-party managing agency Asta has unveiled a new underwriting business through its managing general agent platform.
To be led by London Market veteran Paul Witzenfeld, the new business will begin accepting worldwide property facultative reinsurance risks come April. The focus will be on primary and first-layer placements, with business to be written against binding authority contracts backed by company market capacity via Asta Underwriting Management Limited.
“I wanted to achieve maximum benefit from the hardening market by having a new business up and running in time for June 01 renewals,” said Witzenfeld, who comes onboard Asta from Castel Specialty.
“In extremely short order, Asta has provided all of the complex services and experience necessary to launch an MGA, from licensing and compliance to actuarial and HR. As we discussed the challenges, they simply kept saying ‘yes, we can do that’ and presenting practical solutions. Asta has made it happen.”
Witzenfeld’s credentials include time spent at Pen Underwriting, ACE Global Markets, and Liberty Syndicates.
Meanwhile, commenting on the new business, Asta chief executive Julian Tighe noted: “We’re thrilled that Paul has decided to join us. His choice is testament to the flexibility and growing popularity of our MGA services.
“We’ve created a plug-and-play platform that rapidly accommodates the ambitions of entrepreneurial underwriters to embrace market opportunities as they emerge. It builds on the success of Arma Underwriting, launched in 2017 and writing MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region business, and the creation of David Ashby’s specialist equine insurer a year ago.”
