People Moves: BMS Hires Howden’s Spraggs, Austwick and Woolcott for FinPro Division; Newline Opens Sydney Office, Hiring Beswick as Head of Professional Indemnity

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the broker BMS Group and the re/insurer Newline Group.

A summary of these new hires follows there.

BMS Hires Howden’s Spraggs, Austwick and Woolcott for FinPro Division

BMS, the London-based independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced that Tom Spraggs, Richard Austwick, and Tom Woolcott will join its financial and professional risks (FinPro) division, following the fulfilment of their contractual obligations. Based in London, the trio will report to Drew Harvey, director of FinPro at BMS.

Spraggs, Austwick, and Woolcott join from Howden’s financial institutions team, formerly Protean Risk, and will focus on providing tailored solutions to BMS’ direct clients. With a diversity of experience and broad-reaching networks, the new hires mark BMS’ commitment to diversifying its portfolio and leveraging insights from different market segments to better serve its clients.

Spraggs joins as director and head of UK financial institutions. Having formerly been a member of the executive committee and a team leader at Howden, Spraggs brings more than a decade of experience delivering complex insurance solutions and a specialization in asset management.

Austwick joins as divisional director and brings a decade’s worth of experience advising clients in the financial services sector.

Woolcott, joins as a broker and has experience managing a range of clients from investment managers and funds to private equity and venture capital entities across the UK and Europe.

“We’re really excited for Tom, Richard, and Tom to join the expansion of our FinPro Division – they are amongst many brilliant additions to the BMS UK team this year,” commented Ian Gormley, UK CEO. “We are now actively looking for exceptional talent across this sector of the market including financial institutions, D&O, professional liability and cyber – and we believe we can offer expert brokers the opportunity to build something new and exciting.”

Newline Opens Sydney Office, Hiring Beswick as Head of Professional Indemnity

Newline Group announced that its subsidiary Newline Australia Insurance Pty Ltd. has opened a new office in Sydney and named Nicholas Beswick as head of Professional Indemnity.

Beswick brings over 30 years of professional and financial lines experience to Newline. He most recently served as the national manager of Professional Risks at Ensurance Australia Pty Ltd. He will report to Stephen Mullaly, head of Professional and Financial Lines.

“Establishing offices in key territories is part of our ongoing strategy to be closer to our distribution partners and clients,” said Bob Pollock, CEO of Newline Group. “Sydney represents an important market for Newline Australia, and having Nick on the ground will propel our growth while providing local service.”

Headquartered in Melbourne, Newline Australia Insurance Pty Ltd was established in 2006 as service company acting as a coverholder for Newline Syndicate 1218 at Lloyd’s. It is wholly owned by Newline Holdings UK Limited.

“We are excited to expand into Sydney, a market in which we have strong, long-term relationships and are proud to support. Nick’s deep expertise will enable us to continue customising insurance solutions to meet our clients’ unique challenges,” commented Craig Rowsell, CEO of Newline Australia.

Newline Group is a London-based specialty insurance group, which is part of the re/insurer Odyssey Group, a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Newline operates through three underwriting platforms: Newline Syndicate 1218 at Lloyd’s, Newline Insurance Co. Ltd. and Newline Europe Versicherung AG. With offices in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and Latin America, Newline Group underwrites international casualty, cargo and specialty lines of business in more than 80 countries.

Newline Group is part of the re/insurer Odyssey Group, which is a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.