Allied World Europe launches marine insurance business

Allied World Europe has launched a new Marine insurance line of business. Bart Grefe has been appointed vice president, marine underwriting manager, to lead the team.

Grefe will be responsible for building the line of business and developing a comprehensive marine product suite. The team will initially focus on establishing a marine cargo offering, which will be underwritten through the company’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 2232 on the 2014 year of account. Additional marine classes such as marine liability and fine art & specie will be added in the future, pending regulatory approval.

“At Allied World, we remain committed to meeting the evolving needs of our clients and trading partners. To that end, we have been steadily expanding our primary capabilities across a number of business lines in Europe. This strategic move into the marine market is the latest example of our European growth strategy; offering a portfolio of products that offer state-of-the-art coverage and superior service,” said Julian James, president of Allied World Europe.

“I am confident that with Bart’s reputation and technical expertise, we will provide a first class marine offering to the London Market, throughout the United Kingdom and across Europe. I look forward to working with the team to build this book of business.”

Prior to joining Allied World, Grefe was most recently marine underwriting manager at Alterra Group. He has over 25 years of insurance industry experience. Throughout his career, Grefe has held various underwriting and management positions at multinational insurance companies and also held the position of associate director at Sedgwick Energy & Marine Limited.