Castel Appoints Nugent Chief Underwriting Officer to Prepare New MGA Cells

UK-based Castel Underwriting Agencies, the club-style MGA formation platform, has appointed James Nugent as its first chief underwriting officer. He joins Castel from Amlin where he was head of underwriting performance and responsible for underwriting performance, governance and quality assurance. His insurance career spans over 35 years, 25 years of which were spent with Amlin (previously Murray Lawrence).

“Nugent will lead all underwriting related activities at Castel including the development of new teams, the review of underwriting strategy and the performance of the existing cells. Subject to regulatory approval, he will also join the Castel board,” the announcement said.

It also explained that “Castel was launched in October 2013 to provide experienced and entrepreneurial underwriters with stable capacity and a fast-track route to creating their own businesses.

“To date Castel has launched Altitude Risk Partners, an aerospace cell, and Newbridge, a political risk cell. Additional cell launches are planned during 2015.

Nugent said he was attracted to Castel “by the opportunity to support the insurance industry’s emerging entrepreneurs. Innovation underpinned by sound underwriting discipline has always formed the cornerstone of new insurance businesses, but the flexibility of Castel’s club-style platform now makes it easier to bring plans to fruition.”

Castel’s CEO Mark Birrell said: “Castel is growing quickly and our new business pipeline is very strong. It is therefore very important to strengthen our central management team in order to ensure our teams have the expert support they need.” He added that Nugent’s appointment as CUO would “help us to recruit the market’s best insurance entrepreneurs and ensure underwriting discipline is maintained as new cells launch and grow.”

Source: Castel Underwriting Agencies

Topics Underwriting Insurance Wholesale