London’s leading energy, aviation and marine underwriters revealed…
Convex has climbed the bench strength ranking for London energy underwriters to share first place with CNA Hardy, although the specialty carrier was overtaken in the aviation class by Atrium.
This year’s London’s Leading Underwriters report – a peer nomination-based survey conducted by Insurindex, a joint venture between insurance research consultancy Gracechurch and Brandex – saw Convex climb from second place in the 2023 survey to tie with last year’s energy leader CNA Hardy.
New entrant Probitas placed third, as well as boasting this year’s leading individual energy underwriter James Grainger.
Grainger joined Probitas in May 2023 following 22 years at Munich Re Syndicate 457 (formerly the Watkins Syndicate), where he led the individual ranking for London energy underwriters in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Louis Scott, head of power and utilities at Travelers, placed second in the individual shortlist, while the Alan Schnitzer-led carrier tied for fifth with Argenta in the bench strength ranking.
Bench strength co-leader CNA Hardy saw Clive Magnus take third position in the individual underwriter ranking, followed by Matthew Bishop, deputy head of power, utilities and sustainable energy at Argenta.
Atrium leads aviation with Matta named leading individual underwriter
In aviation and space, Atrium saw a strong performance in the 2024 survey, replacing Convex as leader in the bench strength ranking. Last year, Convex ended Liberty Specialty Markets’ two-year run at the top.
Atrium’s Bassel Matta led this year’s individual ranking for London aviation underwriters, followed by his colleague Alex Cullen (last year’s individual leader) as runner-up.
The top three was rounded out by Ark’s Robert Kemp, followed by Paul Clarke of Travelers and Daniel Fulco of Liberty Specialty Markets.
New entrants in the individual aviation ranking this year include Paul Levitt of Global Aerospace and Duncan Couch of Beazley.
Beazley leads marine bench strength but Aegis’ Hyett takes top spot
Gracechurch described Beazley as “mov[ing] significantly ahead” of its competitors in the 2024 survey for the marine class of business.
Aegis placed runner-up in the marine bench strength ranking, with Markel and Chubb tying for third. For Aegis and Markel this marked a year-on-year rise, while Chubb consolidated its position from 2023.
New entrant James Hyett from Aegis ranked as the top London marine underwriter, with QBE’s Simon Lascelles as individual runner-up.
Third position was shared by another new entrant, Convex’s Peter Gower, with Liberty Specialty Markets’ Christopher Hicks.
To register to receive the full report when it is published next week, click here. The Insurer is media partner for the annual nomination-based survey – conducted by Insurindex, a joint venture between Gracechurch and Brandex – alongside Slipcase as digital content partner. Slipcase distributes a curated selection of content to the world’s (re)insurance industry professionals and businesses.