Hamilton taps AmWins/James River talents to expand US E&S lines

Bermuda-based  Hamilton Insurance Group has tapped two senior underwriters from AmWins and James River for its newly-launched excess and surplus (E&S) insurer, as it seeks to diversify into small business casualty and products liability & contractors insurance lines in the US.

Devon Minarik (pictured, left) has been appointed as head of US small business casualty insurance and Logan Kirkland (pictured, right) as head of US products liability & contractors insurance at  Hamilton Select Insurance, reporting to CEO Clay Rhoades.

In their new roles, based in  Hamilton’s Richmond, Virginia office, Minarik and Kirkland will have responsibility for the development of their respective lines of business.

Hamilton’s new US small business casualty division is targeting general liability insurance for a range of contractors and premises driven accounts and other general liability exposures for small businesses. While the new US products liability & contractors division is focused on a broad range of hard-to-place manufacturing and construction risks.

Minarik joins  Hamilton most recently having spent over a year as vice president at AmWins Group, prior to which he spent over a decade with Burns & Wilcox in increasingly senior roles, ultimately serving as managing director for several years prior to his departure.

Prior to joining  Hamilton, Kirkland was most recently an underwriting specialist at James River Insurance Company, handling large, complex, national products and construction accounts. Before that, he was a property underwriter and property & casualty broker at Continental Underwriters.

“It continues to be an exciting time for  Hamilton in the US E&S space,” Rhoades said. “Over the past year, we have established and quickly grown our team, launched  Hamilton Select Insurance Inc., and are excited to begin writing policies on our domestic paper as we build this best-in-class specialty insurer.

“We’re pleased to now diversify into small business casualty and products liability & contractors insurance lines with additional immediate growth afoot. Devon and Logan’s expertise serving small businesses with their hard-to-place insurance risks together with their solid reputations within the market are valuable additions to our already talented team.”

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