Asta has agreed to finance the development of Arma Underwriting Limited, a new specialist managing general agent in the Middle East.
The Lloyd’s MGA will take a minority stake in Arma and will also support the company’s infrastructure including finance and IT.
Arma has received approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority and is awaiting greenlight from Lloyd’s and the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Backed by Lloyd’s capacity, Arma intends to bring together a range of expertise to underwrite a broad spectrum of business lines. The MGA will support local insurance companies in the Middle East by providing multi-class reinsurance capacity.
Arma will be led by CEO Michael Rafter and its Dubai office will be headed by senior executive officer Hajar Fadel. They will be joined on the board by former
AIG president Patrick Choffel and Asta’s director of underwriting, Simon Norton, and CEO Julian Tighe.
Tighe said Asta’s investment in Arma will “actively contribute to the continued development of reinsurance capability in the Middle East.”
“Asta is committed to supporting innovative MGAs like Arma as they develop new lines of business not currently seen by the market,” Tighe said.
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