Palomar beefs up underwriting and reinsurance with trio of hires

US specialty insurer  Palomar Holdings has made three strategic hires to expand its underwriting and reinsurance teams.

Ty Robben (pictured left) and Gerrit VandeKemp (pictured right) join Palomar's underwriting leadership group as senior vice president and vice president of casualty underwriting, respectively. Chris Cebula joins as senior vice president, reinsurance.

Reporting to chief underwriting officer Jon Christianson, Robben will be responsible for spearheading the company’s casualty business. He has more than 14 years of experience in the primary and excess casualty market. He joins from Great American Custom Insurance Services, where he was SVP, primary and excess casualty, managing an underwriting team responsible for both wholesale and retail-produced business.

VandeKemp will support Robben in developing Palomar’s casualty franchise by building out the professional lines underwriting practice. He spent eight years at CRC Group where he served as director, professional services group, where he was responsible for a broad range of coverages including D&O, EPL, fiduciary, crime, kidnap & ransom, media liability, network security & privacy and technology E&O.

Cebula will be responsible for the management and execution of the company’s risk transfer strategy. He was previously a portfolio manager at Elementum Advisors, a Chicago-based alternative investment fund focused on natural catastrophe reinsurance. While at Elementum, Cebula developed and refined portfolio strategy for the firm’s catastrophe bond focused client accounts and led a team responsible for investment research and due diligence.

Mac Armstrong, chairman and chief executive officer of Palomar, said: “These seasoned professionals bring tremendous industry experience and expertise to Palomar’s underwriting and reinsurance teams. I am pleased to have Ty and Gerrit leading our Casualty efforts, which will undoubtedly profitably grow our business and diversify our portfolio. Similarly, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding to our already strong reinsurance team that will be beneficial to our overall risk transfer strategy.

"These hires are prime examples of Palomar’s continued focus on investing in the long-term growth of the business. Expanding our team is critical to our long-term success and I am thrilled that we can attract such experienced and talented professionals to the Palomar team.”

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