Canopius bolsters credit & political risk team following AmTrust merger

Canopius has promoted Stephen Pike to head of its credit & political risk team, part of the credit, political & crisis division.

Pike joined Canopius as an Underwriter in credit & political risk in 2017 from ED&F Man Capital Markets where he co-led the build out of their global trade finance business. He began his career at Merrill Lynch, focussing on M&A and then leveraged finance, before moving to a special-situations hedge fund where he traded corporate debt, restructured businesses and managed those businesses to growth.

Pike reports to Bernie de Haldevang, who oversees CPR as the overall head of the credit, political & crisis division.

The company said that his appointment underlines Canopius’ commitment to credit & political risk as a key area of focus for the group, which following its 2019 merger with AmTrust, has one of the largest teams in the Lloyd’s market.

de Haldevang said: “I am very pleased to announce Stephen’s appointment as we look ahead to the unparalleled prospects emerging in the post-COVID era. Becoming one of the younger team leaders in the market to lead a team of this size, Stephen has made a remarkably fast and effective transition from banker to insurer and is able to leverage his experience in banking and capital markets to the mutual advantage of our clients and ourselves. This underlines our preferred approach of supporting and developing subject matter experts, and working with them to shape the client proposition, as they naturally better understand the clients we aim to serve.”

Pike said: “Financial instability throughout the corporate environment due to the COVID-19 induced recession will increase demand from our clients. As we saw following the last financial crisis, this increased appetite will provide opportunities to those underwriters who are able to offer clear solutions in an uncertain market, and I believe the team at Canopius is well placed to do this.”