Beazley plucks top leader from Europe’s Big 4 reinsurer to expand

Specialist insurer  Beazley has tapped a 22-year  Swiss Re veteran as its new European general manager to drive its ambitious growth plan across the continent.

Fred Kleiterp will lead Beazley’s expanding teams spread across the continent. Reporting to Adrian Cox, CEO, he will join the company on June 1 and become a member of the executive committee.

Kleiterp, was latterly CEO for EMEA at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, having previously led the division’s Asia Pacific operations and holding a number of senior positions in a more than 22-year career with the reinsurer. He started his career in insurance with Atradius in the Netherlands.

Beazley’s said Kleiterp’s appointment is a further step in its ongoing investment in the development of its European business. With a significant programme of growth planned, the appointment further builds out the management structure of a business that boasts offices in five countries, giving brokers access to specialist underwriting in classes as diverse as cyber and aviation.

Cox said: “Beazley sees excellent opportunities to expand our specialist insurance offering to brokers and their clients across Europe. Fred Kleiterp is highly experienced in growing underwriting businesses in both Europe and Asia Pacific and underpins his growth track record with a focus on operational excellence that brokers and their clients rightly expect. The investment we have already made across Europe has created a successful and effective launchpad, which I believe under Fred’s leadership will develop in both scale and pace and I’m looking forward to this exciting next phase in Europe.”

Kleiterp commented: “Beazley’s reputation as a specialist insurer is well known and combined with its focus on underwriting excellence and its ambitions to grow, I believe we have an outstanding opportunity across Europe. I am looking forward to getting started and working with the team.”

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