MGA Alta Signa sets sail with new marine underwriting business in Europe
European boutique managing general agent (MGA), Alta Signa Europe, has launched a new European marine underwriting business, following recent hires from Swiss Re, Generali and Mediterranea Underwriting.
The new unit will focus on core marine lines of business, backed by Alta Signa’s leading panel of insurance partners - Axeria IARD, SiriusPoint and Sompo International.
The team comprises specialist insurance experts and is headed up by Francesco Dubbioso, head of technical underwriting for marine, based in Genoa, Italy. Dubbioso, who joined Alta Signa in September, has a broad range of insurance leadership experience in a career spanning over 20 years, most recently as CEO of Mediterranea Underwriting.
Dubbioso will be supported by Danilo Fiore, acting head of technical underwriting for hull and yachts. Before joining Alta Signa in December, Fiore was a senior marine hull underwriter with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions for over 10 years and prior to this, he held a similar position with Assicurazioni Generali.
Barbara Vida recently joined the team as a senior cargo underwriter and brings a wealth of international cargo insurance experience having worked previously for Mediterranea Underwriting, Liberty and XL.
Marie Lepelletier, a marine insurance law practitioner, serves as group claims manager, having previously been with Generali Global Corporate & Commercial.
Simona Ballestrero is marine technical accounting and operations manager, and she joined Alta Signa from Mediterranea Underwriting.
Gerard Van Loon, chief executive officer, said: “The arrival of this brilliant new Marine underwriting team adds a new strategic arrow to the Alta Signa bow and I am thrilled they decided to join our MGA family. With the new Marine line of business, we aim to become even more meaningful to our distribution partners by broadening our portfolio beyond the Financial, Professional and Cyber Lines of business. We welcome the new team to Alta Signa and I know that we will benefit enormously from their broad range of highly relevant market experience and expertise.”
Francesco Dubbioso, head of technical underwriting for marine and branch manager for Italy, said: “I am delighted to be launching our new Marine underwriting business and am extremely proud of the quality of the team we were able to attract. The European Marine market is expected to present niche growth opportunities in 2024 and beyond for those MGAs who are agile enough to address the unique challenges in this sector. In an environment where differentiation and relevance are key, I am extremely excited by the opportunities this presents for nimble businesses such as the one we have now assembled at Alta Signa. I can't wait to start this new venture with a team of highly motivated experts.”
Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
