Cooper Gay Opens Domestic Treaty Division

The Cooper Gay Group has announced the opening of a North American Treaty Division, naming two senior executives to establish the operation.

Nick Newman and Judith Benson have joined Cooper Gay as executive vice president and senior vice president, respectively, to manage the new business from its North American headquarters based in New York.

Newman has more than 30 years of reinsurance brokerage experience that has crossed domestic and international property and casualty, workers’ compensation and professional liability lines of business. Previously, he was executive vice president of John P. Woods Co. Inc. in New York where he was in charge of North American P/C brokering. His career has included numerous brokering, management and executive positions with AON Re, U.S. Reinsurance Corporation and Sten Re Cole and Associates.

Benson also brings three decades’ worth of industry experience in casualty and property treaty brokering. She also joins Cooper Gay from John P. Woods Co., where she was a senior vice president and instrumental in building the firm’s treaty brokerage operations in tandem with Newman. Previously, she held various senior broking and executive positions with Willis, Minet Re and U.S. Reinsurance Corporation. Benson holds an AAS in business from Kingsborough College in Brooklyn, N.Y.