Beazley shakes up North America commercial property amid ‘volatile’ market

Specialist Lloyd's re/insurer  Beazley has restructured its North American commercial property unit with a host of appointments and new hires, in a move to simplify access for brokers with a unified risk appetite and underwriting approach.

The restructure will see its large commercial property team merge with its Canadian and E&S property teams to create a single North American commercial property team, supported by four regional hubs to simplify distribution.

The company has appointed four new regional leaders, with three internal appointments and Robert Sadlier joining as central regional leader, based in Chicago. Sadlier comes to  Beazley from Ironshore, where he was an E&S property underwriting officer.

Sadlier has had 12-year property underwriting career at Ironshore (Liberty Mutual), where he was latterly an underwriting manager, leading a team of underwriters with a substantial combined book and track record of strong business development.

Ashley Irwin has been appointed northeast regional leader, based in New York, Reid Jaffe, southeast regional leader, based in Atlanta, and Tim Carlin western regional leader, based in San Francisco. Each regional hub will be supported by a locally based underwriting team.

Additionally, Mike Cooper has been appointed to the new role of property product leader to drive a consistent underwriting approach to products and business strategy in North America. All teams will report to Matt Westhoff, head of North American commercial property.

Richard Montminy, group head of property risks at  Beazley, said: “These changes are the final piece in our property strategy to create a single commercial property team in North America. Most importantly, it simplifies our distribution and helps us to support our brokers where they are located, offering easier access, and consistent service, irrespective of the channel, based on a unified risk appetite and underwriting approach.

“Robert’s appointment adds additional bench strength to our already outstanding Property team, and we look forward to continuing to support our brokers and clients as property cat exposures continue to grow and the market becomes more volatile.”

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