Markets/Coverages: Distinguished Programs Expands Into Reinsurance Led by DiPaola

Distinguished Programs, a national managing general agent (MGA) and insurance program manager, has expanded into the reinsurance market with the addition of Distinguished Reinsurance.

The new platform has launched with its first group focused on property reinsurance, led by Frank DiPaola, who will take on the role of president, DistinguishedRe Property.

Coverage is backed by Antares Reinsurance Co., a Bermuda-licensed reinsurer that is the reinsurance arm of the larger Antares Global insurance group, owned by QIC.

The DistinginishedRe Property group offers a broad appetite for excess of loss facultative, semi-automatic and property treaty placements, with up to $50 million in capacity. Capabilities include U.S. domestic and international property schedules, as well as direct and brokered individual risk, facultative automatic and treaty placements.

This move represents Distinguished’s first step into the reinsurance market and aligns with its broader strategy of building specialized underwriting platforms.

“Expanding into reinsurance is a natural next step for us, as we see strong potential for the MGA structure in this space,” said Jason Rotman, president of New York-based Distinguished.

DiPaola brings more than 25 years of reinsurance experience to the role and will lead a team of facultative and treaty underwriters, pricing actuaries, catastrophe modeling professionals and legal specialists.

“We see a strong opportunity to bring a more thoughtful, disciplined approach to the property reinsurance market,” said DiPaola.

Distinguished’s entry into reinsurance follows the recent introductions of its marine cargo, crisis management, and transactional risk programs.

Distinguished serves niche sectors including commercial real estate, hotels and restaurants, community associations, transactional risk, environmental and construction professional, marine cargo, crisis management, cyber, surety, executive lines, inland marine, and fine arts and collectibles.

Topics Reinsurance