Aspen Expands Into U.S. E&S Business; Acquires Dakota Specialty Insurance Co.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, a provider of global reinsurance and specialty insurance, is expanding into the U.S. excess and surplus lines business through the acquisition of Dakota Specialty Insurance Company from The Insurance Corporation of New York. Dakota will be renamed Aspen Specialty Insurance Company.

Aspen Specialty will be based in Boston, and will write a focused book of property and casualty surplus lines business, predominantly through the U.S. wholesale surplus lines broker network.

Aspen Specialty will be headed by Peter Coghlan, president and CEO, and Chris Maciejewski, chief casualty underwriting officer. Coghlan joins from First State Management, part of the Hartford Group.

Chris O’Kane, chief executive of Aspen, noted, “Aspen Specialty establishes the third leg of the Aspen franchise alongside Aspen Insurance UK Limited, where we trade in the London market as Aspen Re and Aspen Insurance, and Aspen Insurance Limited in Bermuda. Our business model is to establish a presence in those markets where we can take advantage of excellent distribution and attractive underwriting conditions.”