Category: Insurance

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

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.

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

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.