Westfield Specialty International expanded its underwriting capabilities with three key appointments to its political violence and aviation war team.
Hector Threlfall and Charlie Fellows join as senior underwriter and underwriter respectively for political violence and war, while Mark Connellan joins as aviation war underwriter.
All three London-based appointments will report to Jo Cousins, Political Violence & Aviation War Class underwriter.
"Westfield Specialty International is in the midst of a sustained period of investment in our people, supplementing our existing strengths with an influx of new and exciting talent," said Jeremy Shallow, specialty head & deputy CUO.
The new hires bring significant industry experience: Threlfall has over a decade in political violence underwriting, most recently at Travelers; Fellows brings 12 years of political violence broking experience from Marsh; and Connellan arrives with nearly 10 years' insurance experience, most recently at Convex.
"The current global geopolitical uncertainty means there is intense competition to secure the leading underwriters in the PV & aviation war lines. The fact that we are able to attract people of this calibre is testament to the appeal of the Westfield Specialty offering,” Shallow added.
He further emphasised that the appointments reflect Westfield's commitment to disciplined underwriting and sustainable product expansion, guided by the stability of their mutual approach.
The previous week likewise saw expansion in the group with the appointments of Craig Nugent and Joseph Beltran to the professional indemnity (PI) team.
Nugent was appointed as senior underwriter in the division, and Beltran as underwriter.
This line-up will report to Mark Fellows, head of financial and professional lines.
Aiming to build a team of top talents, the recent appointments are part of Westfield Specialty’s expansion to support its specialty insurance products. The group currently operates in the US, UK, and Dubai.
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