Category: Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has commenced underwriting casualty and construction insurance in France and filled two key in-country leadership posts, naming Olivier Antiphon as Head of Construction and Anne-Sophie Bonifay as Head of Casualty.

“We are pleased to continue to round out our capabilities in France as we welcome Olivier and Anne-Sophie to lead our entry into the local construction and casualty markets,” said François-Xavier d’Huart, Country Manager, France, BHSI. “Their expertise, coupled with BHSI’s financial strength and commitment to claims handling excellence, will serve our customers and brokers well for years to come.”

Olivier comes to his role with three decades of experience in construction underwriting and engineering. For the past 12 years he was Construction & Engineering Underwriting Manager at XL Insurance Company SE in Paris. Prior to that, he was Engineering Underwriting Manager at Gerling in Paris. He began his career as Head of the Firefighting Engineering Team at Alstom Power. He has a degree in Health & Security from the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Saint-Denis.

Anne-Sophie joins BHSI with 25 years of experience spanning both middle market and large account casualty underwriting. She began her career in casualty underwriting at AGF (Allianz), and then Commercial Union, in Paris. She then held increasingly senior positions in casualty underwriting at Chubb Insurance Company of Europe, and was Casualty Underwriting Manager, Large Corporate Accounts, at Zurich Global Corporate France. She served as Casualty Underwriting Manager, Middle Market, at XL Insurance Company Limited, and most recently was Casualty Underwriting Manager, Middle Market, at AXA XL in Paris. She holds a master’s degree in Insurance Law from the University of Paris Panthéon Assas.

Olivier and Anne-Sophie are based in BHSI’s office in Paris.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance is entering the surety market in Australia and has named Jonathan Griffiths as Head of Surety, Australia.

“We are pleased to expand our surety footprint and our team into Australia. With his extensive experience, Jonathan is exceptionally qualified to bring to market surety solutions with BHSI’s agility, underwriting expertise and financial strength,” said Mark Lingafelter, President, Australasia, BHSI.

BHSI will focus on providing contract surety solutions for large and mid-sized contractors throughout Australia. The company currently provides surety solutions in the U.S, Canada, UK & Europe and Asia.

Jonathan comes to BHSI with more than a decade of surety underwriting experience at Liberty Specialty Markets, where he was most recently Head of Surety, Asia-Pacific, based in Sydney. Before that he held increasingly senior roles underwriting surety for Liberty in Australia as well as North America, the UK and Europe.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from London Metropolitan University in the UK and an Associate in Fidelity and Surety Bonding certification. He has served as Vice President of the Australian Surety Association since 2015.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has expanded its global footprint opening a new office in Madrid, naming Ignacio Almazan as Country Manager in Spain.

“Putting down roots in Spain enhances our ability to service both local customers and multinationals in Europe,” said Chris Colahan, President, BHSI, UK and Europe. “Ignacio has extensive experience in the Spanish marketplace and we are excited to have him leading our effort to build our local presence and relationships.”

BHSI will initially underwrite property, casualty, financial lines, construction and engineering insurance, with the expectation to steadily expand its product lines and services in Spain.

Ignacio comes to BHSI with more than 20 years of insurance industry experience. For the past decade, he served as Country Manager for RSA Spain. Prior to that, he was Sub-director of the Energy Department at Willis Spain, and Leader of the Energy Department at Aon Spain. He began his insurance industry career as a Risk Engineer, then a C&E Underwriter, at Royal & Sun Alliance Spain.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it has expanded its leadership team in France, naming Katell Pouliquen as Head of Claims, Louis du Ché as Head of Property and Ludovic Ruiller as Head of Environmental.

“We are pleased to begin expanding our team in Paris with three individuals who are exceptionally well equipped to bring to market the strong value that resides in BHSI’s underwriting expertise, claims excellence, and financial strength,” said François-Xavier d’Huart, Country Manager for France, BHSI. “We look forward to continuing to round out our team and our capabilities in France and throughout Europe.”

Katell Pouliquen has been honing her claims expertise for more than 15 years. She spent the majority of her career moving through increasingly senior claims positions at AIG Europe in Paris, where she was most recently Deputy Head of Claims. She holds one master’s degree in Insurance Law from the University of Paris Créteil, and another in Law and Social Sciences from University La Sorbonne.

Louis du Ché comes to his role as Head of Property with more than a decade of insurance industry experience. He was most recently Global Property Manager, Benelux, at AIG Europe Limited. Prior to that, he held increasingly senior roles in property insurance at other major insurers in France. He earned a master’s degree and European Bachelor of Science in Business degree from the Ecole Supérieure d’Assurances (ESA).

Ludovic Ruiller brings to BHSI nearly 20 years of experience in the environmental field, spanning both technical consulting and underwriting. He was most recently Environmental Risks Line Manager, France & Benelux, at Axa XL. Before that, he spent 12 years specializing in environmental risk underwriting at AIG Europe and ASSURPOL in France. He holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Ecole des Métiers de l’Environnement in Rennes, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology & Ecosystems from the University of Rennes I.

BHSI’s initial focus in France is on large and upper middle market customers. The company will continue to expand product offerings in France, with construction, casualty and executive & professional lines capabilities expected to launch soon.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has enhanced its Asia Executive First Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance to include a market-leading provision that reinstates policy limits exhausted by the entity or by individual insureds.

“Corporate regulatory investigations have become more targeted and aggressive. As enforcement agencies sharpen their focus, we can expect to continue to see deeper and more costly investigations, often involving multiple individuals,” said Patrick Ko, Head of Executive & Professional Lies, BHSI, Hong Kong. “Our automatic reinstatement of limits provision gives insureds confidence that coverage will be there when they need it.”

BHSI’s Asia Executive First D&O Liability policy, which provides clear, simply worded coverage for large commercial organizations and their directors and officers, now includes an automatic reinstatement provision that applies across the board to all of the policy’s insuring clauses, replenishing limits which have been exhausted by the payment of Side A (D&O indemnification), Side B (company reimbursement) or Side C (entity securities claims) losses for future claims.

“In Asia, there is a heightened focus on ensuring that directors and officers are held personally accountable for their actions. This is prompting companies and board members to examine their D&O coverage and carriers more closely,” said Emily Poh, Head of Executive & Professional Lines, BHSI, Singapore. “Our insureds can be confident that, along with expansive coverage, they have a D&O insurer that has the long term commitment and unmatched financial strength to protect not just the corporation, but their personal assets as well.”

BHSI has also added numerous other enhancements to the policy, including coverage for expenses to protect the insured’s reputation and for travel and accommodations required to comply with investigations.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has appointed Andreas Krause as Country Manager for Germany and established a new office in Cologne.

BHSI also has an office in Munich, Germany, and underwrites property, casualty, medical malpractice, marine and executive & professional lines for a wide range of customers throughout the country.

“Drawing on his extensive experience in the European insurance industry, Andreas will lead our efforts to grow our team and our customer and broker relationships in Germany, and coordinate with colleagues throughout Europe and around the world to bring BHSI’s formidable underwriting, service and financial strength to the marketplace.” said Chris Colahan, President, BHSI, Europe and the UK. “We are pleased to further establish our geographic presence in Germany and our leadership team in Europe.”

Andreas comes to BHSI with nearly 20 years of industry experience. He was most recently General Manager, Germany, at QBE Europe. Before that he held various roles in both underwriting and distribution at AIG Europe, and was Director of Broking at AON Germany in Hamburg. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Catholic University Eichstätt.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has expanded its team in the UK with the appointment of Mark Walker as Head of Customer and Broker Engagement. Mark will be based in BHSI’s London office.

“I’m extremely pleased to have Mark leading our efforts to expand our broker and customer relationships across the UK. He brings to this new role more than two decades of industry experience and a great passion and commitment to growing BHSI’s partnerships in this important market,” said Chris Colahan, President, UK and Europe, BHSI.

Mark was most recently Head of SME, Affinity & Digital, Asia Pacific at QBE. Before that, he was CEO Hong Kong at QBE. He also served as CEO, Hong Kong & Specialty at RSA and held numerous other leadership positions at RSA in the UK and Emerging Markets over more than a decade.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has expanded its presence in Australia to South Australia, opening a new office in Adelaide and naming Monica Holland as Underwriting Manager.

“We are pleased to expand our team and geographic reach with our new Adelaide office, which will provide our suite of specialty products to customers and brokers. Monica has extensive experience in the South Australia insurance industry, and we are pleased to have her representing BHSI. Monica’s local expertise will allow us to partner more effectively with our brokers and customers in South Australia.” said Mark Lingafelter, President, Australasia, BHSI.

As Underwriting Manager for South Australia, Monica will work closely with BHSI’s team in Melbourne to deliver the company’s full range of product offerings. This includes property, liability, executive & professional lines, marine, accident & health and healthcare insurance solutions. She will also serve as Casualty Manager for South Australia.

Monica brings nearly 25 years of diverse industry experience to BHSI. She has most recently served as State Manager and Distribution Manager for a global insurer. Monica holds a University Certificate of Management, Business Management, from Deakin University and is a Senior Associate, Insurance, at ANZIIF.

© 2019 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.