Insurer Ecclesiastical has added to its art and underwriting expertise with two new appointments, it was announced this morning.
Grant Chipman (pictured), a high net worth underwriter with more than 25 years’ experience in the industry, and Dr James Lindow, a fine art author described as having an “impressive insurance CV” have joined the firm’s dedicated team, it said in a release.
Dr Lindow, who joins Ecclesiastical from Chubb, gained the first Renaissance PhD from the Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and has been a research consultant for the BBC as well as an associate lecturer at the University of the Arts, London. Appointed to the role of art and private client underwriting director, he brings a “wealth of expertise,” the insurer said.
In his previous role, Dr Lindow was vice president of personal risk services, and prior to that, he was the vice president, underwriting manager, at Lloyd’s London. He also has Lloyd’s experience as property schemes underwriter at Torus Syndicate 1301, and as development underwriter with AXA Art Insurance.
Chipman joins Ecclesiastical’s art and private client team from Covea, where he spent the past five years setting up and leading high net worth for its new northern office. Prior to that, he worked at Zurich Private Clients for five years, and has a total of 26 years’ experience working on high net worth for both insurers and brokers. In his new role, Chipman will be based in Manchester as a development underwriter.
He commented: “I’m hugely excited to have joined Ecclesiastical as the ambition of the company to continue to grow and be a leading player in the HNW market is clear to see.”
Dr Lindow, who authored a critically acclaimed book, ‘The Renaissance Palace in Florence: Magnificence and Splendour in Fifteenth Century Italy,’ described Ecclesiastical as “synonymous with heritage buildings, art and contents.”
“My focus will be on continuing to grow these areas of the business, but also spreading the message to brokers and clients about the strength of our underwriting, surveying and claims management across all aspects of HNW at Ecclesiastical,” he said.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining a growing team and it’s important to me that Ecclesiastical values both my expertise in fine art and my underwriting experience. The opportunity of working for an ethical business that does things differently is hugely appealing. For me, it makes the company unique and allows us to focus on the needs of our clients, brokers and - through the context of charitable donations - the wider community.”
Sarah Willoughby, the insurer’s art and private client development director, added: “We’re delighted that James and Grant have joined us, strengthening our specialist teams in both London and Manchester. They are both highly experienced high net worth insurance professionals and it is fantastic to have such a respected figure as James from the art world coming on board.”
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