10 December 2012 News

Endurance highlights importance of diversity

Bermuda-based re/insurer Endurance Specialty Holdings has highlighted the importance of establishing a diversified book of business and moving away from being perceived as a property-catastrophe specialist – as many companies based in Bermuda still are.

Endurance last week launched a global trade credit and surety reinsurance business, hiring Christoph Virchow, a specialist in this area with 20 years’ experience at firms including Axis Re and Swiss Re, as senior vice president and global head of trade credit and surety business to lead the expansion. The company has said it will focus on the European, Asian Pacific and Latin American markets.

“We believe that trade credit and surety business is a great diversifier for global reinsurance companies. It doesn’t correlate with other business and therefore represents a natural step for Endurance as we diversify and expand our book of business,” Virchow told Intelligent Insurer.

“Many Bermudian reinsurers are perceived as being specifically property-cat players. While that is true for some players, Endurance has diversified over time and establishment of a global trade credit unit is an indication of our commitment to serving the specialty markets. Another example is our recent launch of Endurance Global Weather.”

Virchow admits that trade credit and surety business is not an easy market in which to make money at the moment. It is highly competitive and rates in many areas are soft. But he stresses that this illustrates Endurance’s long-term commitment to the sector.

“After the last economic crisis, the trade credit and surety business showed remarkable resilience in terms of its performance and, as a result, a number of reinsurers have since entered the market. This has led to over-capacity and pressure on rates, which in some areas are soft,” he said.

“That we are setting this operation up mid-cycle shows we are serious about this business and have a long-term commitment to it. Initially, we are targeting business mainly in Europe and also Asia and Latin America. Our entrance into the market has been well received by clients and we plan to grow this into a sizeable operation with a global portfolio and be recognised as a leading reinsurer on contracts in this market.”

A strong team has also been appointed around Virchow. His deputy will be Micaela Cojocaru, who has almost 15 years’ experience in this sector including, most recently, as the director of International credit and bond business at Howden Broking Group.

Erik Wesselink will be a senior underwriter in the team, joining from Nationale Borg in Amsterdam where he was senior manager of credit and surety while Andreas Grieder joins as an assistant underwriter from Axis, where he worked in the credit and bond division.

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