XL Catlin hires AIG and Zurich execs for Canadian environmental insurance

Re/insurer XL Catlin has added two new members to the Canadian environmental insurance team - Marc Estrada as team lead, and Brian Hughes as assistant vice president, underwriting.

Both the executives will be based in Toronto, and report to environmental regional manager for Canada Joseph Madigan.

Estrada joins XL from AIG where he focused on underwriting contractors pollution liability and combined general liability and pollution liability risks. Prior to AIG, he spent six years at Hub International HKMB brokering multiple lines of coverage including environmental, construction and D&O.

Hughes joins from Zurich where he spent 16 years underwriting environmental coverages, including contractors pollution and professional liability and fixed site pollution liability.

"We are very excited to have Marc and Brian join our team in Canada," Matt O’Malley, president of North America environmental insurance, commented. "While other insurers have shied away from the pollution insurance market, we’re reinforcing our resources and talent to meet our clients’ environmental risk management needs and keep us on our path of profitable growth.

"Attracting industry talent like Marc and Brian has been, and will continue to be, a key driver of our 30 plus years of environmental insurance market success."

Nick Greggains, CEO and country manager for XL Catlin, Canada added: "Increasingly, our clients and their brokers are looking for new, innovative solutions for evolving exposures. Effective environmental risk management takes considerable knowledge and technical skill, Marc and Brian add a wealth of experience that I am certain will strengthen our existing relationships and expand our reach in the market."