People Moves: AXA XL Hires AXIS’ Watson as Snr U/W; Hartford’s Pallett to Tegron; Chubb’s Bagaric to BHSI; MGA Spring Hires AXA XL’s Stanford

These international People Moves detail appointments at AXA XL, Tegron Specialty (the new D&O underwriter), Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, and London-based MGA platform Spring Partners.

A summary of these new hires follows here:

AXA XL has appointed David Watson as senior underwriter, Political Risk, Credit & Bond (PRCB), UK & Lloyd’s market, with immediate effect.

In his new role, Watson will be responsible for helping to deliver the strategic, profitable growth of AXA XL’s PRCB book of business in the UK and establishing and developing relationships with key brokers and clients in the market.

Watson began his insurance career at AXIS in the terrorism and political violence team in 2013. He was later promoted to senior underwriter and joined the AXIS Capital Risks Solutions team in 2017, specializing in project finance and secured aircraft finance.

Commenting on the appointment, Ian Nunn, head of PRCB, UK & Lloyd’s market, said: “As exporters and lenders adjust to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing increased demand to help them manage exposure to political and economic instability. For our clients, it’s important to have the right insurance partner to help manage these risks. I’m therefore delighted that David will be taking on the role of senior underwriter within the PRCB team at AXA XL. His knowledge and experience will be a great asset in helping us to deliver our payer to partner strategy, as we continue to develop our PRCB book in the UK.”

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Tegron Specialty, the Beat Capital backed D&O underwriting specialist, announced the appointment of Ray Pallett as chief underwriting officer. Pallett will report to CEO Paul Shore and will assume his role in London with immediate effect, subject to regulatory approval.

Pallett has amassed two decades of industry expertise having held a number of senior roles within underwriting and broking across both D&O and financial institutions (FI). Previously, he worked at The Hartford where he led and developed the FI portfolio as head of financial institutions. Prior to this, Pallett worked for Lockton Financial Risks division as SVP, working with international clients in the public and private sectors.

Launched in May 2021, Tegron Specialty is a specialist underwriting vehicle focused on commercial D&O.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced it is now underwriting property insurance for Mittelstand (small and medium sized) enterprises across Germany and has named Natali Bagaric as head of property, Mittelstand.

Bagaric comes to BHSI with 18 years of industry experience. She was most recently practice leader Real Estate & Hotels, at Chubb European Group SE in Duesseldorf. Prior to that she was Senior Underwriter, Property, at Chubb.

“After five years of steady growth in the corporate property market, we are pleased to expand our underwriting to the Mittelstand segment and bring BHSI’s stability, service and financial strength to these vital businesses,” said Leander Metzger, head of Property, Engineering Lines and Risk Engineering, Germany, BHSI. “With her extensive property insurance expertise, Natali is an excellent addition to our team, and I look forward to working with her as we expand our portfolio and our long-term relationships in Germany and throughout Europe.”

Bagaric is based in the BHSI office in Cologne and can be reached at natali.bagaric@bhspecialty.com or +49 221 4555 1935.

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Spring Partners, the London-based managing general agency platform, has appointed Emma Stanford as lead underwriter.

Stanford joins Spring with a wealth of experience in the financial lines industry, most recently as head of UK Financial Institutions at AXA XL.

Spring Partners, which purchases and develops MGAs, is a joint venture with independent Lloyd’s broker Aston Lark, which is backed by Goldman Sachs.