People Moves: DUAL Europe Names Berhault and Benajiba to Lead Europe Transactional Liability; AXIS Taps LSM’s Edwards as Head of Delegated Strategy, Global Mkts

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the MGA DUAL Europe and AXIS Capital Holdings.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

DUAL Europe Names Berhault and Benajiba to Lead Europe Transactional Liability

DUAL Europe, the managing general agent and unit of insurance intermediary Howden, announced the appointments of Amaury Berhault and Jaume Benajiba as managing directors of its transactional liability business in Europe, effective immediately.

Berhault and Benajiba bring more than 17 years of experience in transactional liability underwriting. Both join DUAL from Acquinex, where they served as co-heads of Southern Europe and Latin America and were part of the European management team.

Prior to that, Berhault led the Southern European practice at ANV, was head of Transactional Risks at Marsh New Zealand, and worked as an underwriter at Tokio Marine. Benajiba also led the Southern European practice at ANV and spent over seven years in private practice as an M&A adviser for Baker McKenzie, Deloitte, and DWF-RCD.

DUAL said it is positioned to offer transactional risks solutions across Europe, thanks to a team of highly skilled underwriters in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the DACH region, France and Italy.

DUAL Europe’s Transactional Risk practice offers comprehensive, tailor-made solutions to meet the evolving needs of brokers and clients. The proposition includes warranty & indemnity (W&I) insurance, tax liability insurance, title Insurance and contingent risks insurance designed to provide certainty and protection in complex transactions.

DUAL said it is committed to supporting deals of all sizes, from complex, substantial transactions to smaller M&A opportunities.

“We have ambitious plans to be number one globally across all lines of M&A. This is not just about growth; it’s about setting a new benchmark for excellence in transactional liability,” commented Berhault.

“We want to be recognized for our ability to provide certainty in complex deals, for our agility in adapting to market dynamics, and for our commitment to long-term relationships,” Benajiba said.

Established in 1998, DUAL Group is one of the world’s largest underwriting agencies with €3 billion of GWP. DUAL employs over 1,750 people in 21 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and is one of Lloyd’s’ largest international coverholders. DUAL Europe operates in 15 countries, with more than 400 people.

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AXIS Taps LSM’s Edwards as Head of Delegated Strategy, Global Mkts

AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd., the global specialty re/insurer, announced the appointment of Lewis Edwards as head of Delegated Strategy, Global Markets.

In this newly created role, Edwards will oversee the development and leadership of Global Markets’ portfolios of coverholder and managing general agent business. Based in London, he reports to Sara Farrup, head of Global Markets, and joins her leadership team. He assumed his new role on December 1.

Edwards joins AXIS following seven years at Liberty Specialty Markets where he most recently held the position of head of the Delegated Authority Practice. Before Liberty, roles included senior underwriting and management positions at Allianz Corporate & Specialty where he spent almost a decade, and positions at AIG and Heath Lambert.

“Lewis brings stellar market experience and knowledge of the specialty delegated space as well as a deep understanding of how to succeed in a competitive trading environment,” commented Farrup. “Developing our delegated portfolio through binding authorities with carefully selected and trusted broker, coverholder, and MGA partnerships, complementary to our open market underwriting strategy, will be key to achieving long-term growth.

Topics Europe Liability