Ascot moves into professional indemnity with ex-Neon team

Specialty re/insurer Ascot has hired ex-Neon executives Antonio Bellanca, Matthew Watson, Manoj Sharma and Henry Hollingdale to write professional indemnity (PI). The underwriters will join Ascot on April 1.

Writing at Lloyd’s on behalf of Ascot Syndicate 1414, the team’s book will consist of a number of non-US international PI classes.

The team will be led by class underwriter Bellanca who has held numerous underwriting roles throughout a 20 year career. Bellanca will report to David Fitzpatrick, executive underwriter.

Bellanca was most recently head of professional indemnity at Neon, while Watson, Sharma and Hollingdale served as underwriters.

Andrew Brooks, group chief executive officer, said: “Under David Fitzpatrick’s leadership we have built an excellent International Casualty business. It was our long held ambition to add a complementary Professional Indemnity business to this portfolio and we could not have found a more highly regarded team than Antonio and his colleagues with their proven track record. I am delighted that they have agreed to join Ascot, reporting to David, in a move that will further enhance our client offering.”

Bellanca added: “We are very excited to be joining Ascot. The strength and reputation of the company will allow us to maintain our strong leadership position and help us build out our product focused strategy, pursuing niche distribution worldwide. This is a very positive move for our clients, coverholders and brokers.”