John Chambers (pictured), who joined AEGIS London in 2000, has been appointed to the newly created role of innovation and corporate development director.
The AEGIS London veteran previously served as director of underwriting and will now be responsible for overseeing the development of the firm’s online quote-and-bind system for coverholders and brokers called OPAL platform, which was launched in 2016. Chambers will also be in charge of nurturing strategic relationships with coverholder and reinsurer partners worldwide.
“Our OPAL platform has had an extremely positive impact on the business and this continues to grow as new products are added,” he said. “Previously, responsibility for the platform’s management and growth was spread across a number of different parts of AEGIS London but with no dedicated senior management oversight. Now I’ll be the focus for that work with the intention of significantly increasing the amount of business written using it.”
Chambers has worked in the Lloyd’s market since 1986 and believes part of his new role is to think “more imaginatively” about the managing agent’s relationship with its coverholder partners.
“In addition to providing high quality service and products, we’re examining other ways in which we can deepen those relationships,” he said. “Our coverholders value their independence but this can lead to difficulties when thinking about expansion and succession planning. We can work with them to find creative solutions to these issues, which allow them to maintain their independence.”
Known as a specialist in the Canadian market, Chambers spent nearly one and a half decades at Janson Green syndicate before moving to AEGIS London.
