Pen Underwriting appoints former Brit exec as chair

Pen Underwriting, the London-based specialist underwriting business within the Arthur J Gallagher group, has appointed Jonathan Turner as executive chairman.

He will report to Grahame Chilton, chief executive officer of Arthur J Gallagher International, and will work alongside Mark Armitage, the managing director of Pen Underwriting,

Turner will be tasked with evaluating current capital arrangements and reviewing how Pen can maximise its underwriting capability. He will also look at new ways to provide capacity for customers in the future and work with Pen’s wider leadership team to drive the profitable development of the specialist underwriting portfolio both in the UK and internationally.

He most recently at Brit Insurance where he held a number of senior roles including active underwriter of Brit’s Syndicate 2987.

Chilton said: “There is significant growth potential within our Pen underwriting operation and under Mark Armitage’s leadership we have ambitious plans to ensure we offer our customers a distinctly different route to high quality, specialist underwriting. Jonathan is a great addition to the Pen business.”

Armitage added: “Not only is Jonathan a highly experienced underwriter, he brings a complementary blend of Lloyd’s market knowledge that will be extremely valuable in fulfilling our strategy of becoming a virtual insurer, enabling our customers to trade across the whole underwriting spectrum.”

Turner said: “It’s been an impressive twelve months for Pen, in which Mark and the team have created a single brand for all of the underwriting specialisms as well as implementing a new business structure that mirrors the profile of its customers.

“The business is at an exciting stage of its development and I am looking forward to working with the leadership team to ensure we can maximise our opportunities and add value at every stage of the underwriting process.”