Ascot appoints US chief risk officer & head of exposure management

Bermuda-based Ascot Group has appointed Steve Guijarro as US chief risk officer (CRO) and group head of exposure management.

Guijarro joins from S&P Ratings where he was North America P&C sector specialist and global ERM coordinator. Prior to that, he was at Marsh, and was responsible for actuarial and statistical analysis on behalf of clients. He started his career as a broker before becoming an actuary while at Integro Insurance Brokers.

In his new role, Guijarro will have primary authority and oversight for Ascot’s enterprise risk management function in North America. In addition to his CRO duties, he also holds the position of group head of exposure management with responsibility for all aspects of monitoring exposure aggregation across Ascot’s core underwriting operations in Bermuda, the US and Syndicate businesses. He will report to Mark Smith, group chief risk officer.

Jonathan Zaffino, group president of Ascot, said: “Steve is a highly accomplished and respected actuary, who has a broad depth of experience across P&C insurance. His skill set is ideal for our growing U.S. operations where he can leverage and build on the strong foundations we’ve established across our risk management function. Ascot has a long track-record of disciplined and profitable underwriting, which has been enhanced by successful actuarial and exposure management frameworks. I know Steve will continue in this tradition and ensure first-class risk management across Ascot Group under the leadership of Mark.”

Guijarro commented: “I’m delighted to join Ascot at an exciting time in the company’s evolution. The Group places a particular emphasis on risk management, highlighted by their robust and diverse capital structure being at the core of their mission. I look forward to working with the talented colleagues in the group, and together utilizing Ascot’s dynamic capital model to scale the business according to market opportunities and our strategic objectives.”