Aspen Re, the reinsurance underwriting arm of specialty firm Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, has a new Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) in Christian Dunleavy, as the current CUO Emil Issavi is departing for Ryan Specialty Group (RSG).
In a somewhat unusual joint press release, Aspen and RSG announced the move of Isaavi, who was President, Chief Underwriting Officer and Managing Director of the Americas at Aspen Re, to become a senior executive at RSG, RSG Underwriting Managers, LLC and Ryan Re Underwriting Managers, LLC, RSG’s reinsurance MGA.
Mark Cloutier, Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Aspen, commented: “I want to thank Emil for his many contributions to Aspen over the last 12 years. Emil has been instrumental in helping us build a strong reinsurance platform with a talented team, positioning Aspen well for continued success. We wish him all the best with his new opportunity and look forward to maintaining a close working relationship with him in his new role.”
Patrick G. Ryan, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of RSG, commented: “We are pleased to welcome Emil to Ryan Specialty Group as a senior executive of RSG, RSGUM, our managing general underwriting division, and Ryan Re, our new reinsurance managing general underwriter. Emil brings deep knowledge and insights to the role with his 25 years in the reinsurance business. With Emil’s long and impressive career at Aspen, we look forward to expanding our strong relationship with Aspen.”
Joint press releases are not the normal way of announcing such departures and hires in re/insurance, which along with the two comments above from the CEO’s suggesting a continuing working relationship, reflects the strong cooperation and importance of the relationship between the two firms.
Dunleavy had only recently been promoted to become the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aspen Bermuda Limited, as well as his roles as CUO at Aspen Bermuda and MD at Aspen Re.
Dunleavy now becomes Chief Underwriting Officer of Aspen Re and will also take a seat on Aspen’s Executive Committee with immediate effect.
Aspen has also announced the promotion of Peter Emblin, currently a Managing Director for London & Global Head of Specialty at Aspen Re, to the role of Senior Managing Director, Aspen Re.
Cloutier added, “I look forward to working closely with Christian and Peter in their new roles as they oversee our successful Aspen Re business. Christian and Peter have both served in a number of senior leadership roles within Aspen Re, and we have the utmost confidence in their ability to continue driving the business forward. Their appointments not only provide continuity for our customers, trading partners and associates but also illustrates the depth of talent and experience within our group.”