Mosaic’s triple swoop on SCOR to enter global environmental liability market

Specialty insurer  Mosaic has forayed into the global environmental liability market with the launch of a new division to be led by a seasoned 30-year executive from SCOR.

The new global environmental liability division is the company’s seventh specialty underwriting unit. It will be led by Jim Finnamore, and offers a lead market on environmental liability coverage, along with syndicated capacity from trade partners, with initial maximum capacity of $25 million.

The company has also hired environmental specialists David Barr and William Campbell, also from SCOR, all based in London.

Finnamore joins Mosaic as SVP, global head of environmental liability. With more than 30 years of experience working in the sector as an underwriter, broker, adviser, and engineer, his focus includes underwriting environmental risks for corporate and private-equity clients in mergers and acquisitions. Previously, he established and managed SCOR’s environmental and transactional liability team and held senior positions at Aon, Marsh, and Chubb in Europe, Bermuda, Singapore, and Australia.

Barr, joining as SVP, senior underwriter, spent seven years as an underwriter in the sector at SCOR. A geologist, he originally worked in the offshore oil industry before becoming an environmental consultant, focusing on contaminated land risk assessment and remediation. Barr began his insurance career as a broker for environmental risks at both Willis and Marsh, before moving to underwriting. He was European manager of environmental liability at Chubb prior to joining SCOR.

Campbell, VP, underwriter, will underwrite a diverse range of environmental risks, with a regional focus on North America. Previously, he spent eight years as an underwriter at SCOR. Before working in insurance, he was an environmental consultant in the UK and South Africa.

“We’re thrilled to launch our environmental capability and to welcome Jim, David, and Will to our team—their specialised talent is prominent in the market,” said Mosaic co-founder and co-CEO Mark Wheeler. “We’ve envisioned this division from the outset as a natural progression in Mosaic’s growth. It’s exciting to bring leading capacity and deep expertise to address some of the world’s most relevant risks in this arena.”

Finnamore added: “The three of us are delighted to join Mosaic’s dynamic team. Mosaic’s agility as a new company aligns with our division’s need to be flexible in a rapidly evolving landscape. Environmental risks have never been more relevant and challenging to companies as they are today, and we envision complementary synergies with Mosaic’s transactional liability, professional liability, and other business lines.”

Mosaic’s suite of proprietary environmental policies is designed to protect companies in a wide range of industry sectors against the risk their activities damage the environment, incurring costs and liabilities. In-scope sectors include oil and gas, metal mining, power generation, electricity transmission and distribution, manufacturing, waste management, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

Additionally, Mosaic covers financial institutions affected by the growing trend of indirect, contingent liability targeting lenders, advisors, and insolvency practitioners.

Launched in February 2021, Mosaic combines Lloyd’s Syndicate 1609 with a wholly-owned syndicated capital management agency, enabling the company to source and underwrite business in regions around the world. Its other lines of specialty business include: transactional liability, cyber and tech E&O, political risk, political violence, financial institutions, and professional lines.

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