People in the News

Mike Makowski to join Celebrus Risk Limited

Celebrus Risk Limited has announced that Mike Makowski will be starting with the company in mid-January 2019 to assist the company with its plans to develop its own capacity for Oil and Gas risks from Russia and the CIS region.

Once such capacity has been established Mike will be Celebrus Risk’s Chief Energy Underwriting Officer.

Mike has over 40 years’ experience in senior management positions in the Oil and Gas insurance sector. This includes 30 years in senior roles in leading Lloyd’s brokers including JLT, Marsh, Aon (previously Benfield Corporate Risk), HSBC Gibbs and Cooper Gay. As a broker Mike worked primarily in account executive and business development roles, mostly targeting the Russian and CIS regions. He was also Chief Operating Officer at the Marsh Marine and Energy Reinsurance Division.

For the past ten years Mike has underwritten similar lines of business, including ten years as Managing Director of SOVAG (UK Branch), a majority Russian-owned underwriting company in the heart of the City. Mike’s roles at SOVAG included underwriting risks from oil, gas, and power/heavy industry sectors, and overall management of the branch office in London.  In this position he was responsible for business development worldwide but with particular promotion in the CIS/CEE regions.

Mike will be joining Celebrus from Oilfield Offshore Underwriting Limited, where he has recently held the role of energy underwriter, with responsibility for the development and underwriting of Upstream and Downstream Energy business emanating from Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States and Baltic States.

Oleg Tronev, the major driving force behind Celebrus Risk,  says of Mike’s hire, “We are very excited to be welcoming Mike to our team at Celebrus. Not only will he bring a deep understanding of the underwriting of oil and gas risks from our target region, but also a keen appreciation of the markets with which we will be negotiating our own capacity. Furthermore, over the past 40 years Mike has developed his own loyal client base which will further broaden our book of business.” Mike himself comments, “I am eager to start a new challenge with Celebrus and look forward to making a key contribution to the success of this venture .”

Celebrus Risk Limited currently specialises in Oil and Gas reinsurance from Russia and the CIS region into the London market.

New London MGA Aurous hires Qatar Re energy duo

London headquartered managing general agency, Aurous Risk Partners, has announced the appointment of two energy underwriters, both of which previously held positions at reinsurer Qatar Re and global insurer Zurich.

Both Animesh Majrekar and Robert Little joined the company towards the end of last year, and started underwriting in the energy sector around the recent January 2019 renewals.

Mr Majrekar, joining from Qatar Re, has been appointed Risk Partner – Energy, and is responsible for managing Aurous’ downstream energy portfolio. While at Qatar Re he was an energy underwriter, and he began his insurance industry career at Zurich Insurance Company.

Robert Little has also been appointed Risk Partner – Energy, and takes responsibility for the company’s upstream energy portfolio. He also joins the firm from reinsurance company Qatar Re, where he most recently worked as an energy underwriter.

Mr Little has also worked at Zurich Insurance Company as an upstream energy underwriter, and he started his career in the industry at global insurance and reinsurance broker Willis Towers Watson.

The division is set to focus on both upstream and downstream energy risks, which includes property damage, third-party liability, business interruption, and loss of production risks.

It will also offer offshore energy protection, and onshore energy production and transportation risks.

Aurous Risk Partners was established as a joint venture between OneAdvent and Aurous’ management team, designed to focus initially on international specialty reinsurance.

RFIB names Urquhart as head of property, energy & construction

RFIB has appointed Duncan Urquhart as head of property, energy and construction, effective the 23^rd December.

Mr Urquhart joins the Lloyd’s (re)insurance broker from Limehouse Agencies Limited, where he served as head of distribution. He brings over 30 years’ experience, beginning his insurance career in Melbourne at Sedgwick, before holding a series of senior insurance broking positions in London and Asia, including those at Marsh and Willis Towers Watson.

His appointment follows that of Kevin Stratton, who was named managing director of RFIB’s recently restructured specialty business, effective the 1^st January 2019.

Lloyd’s names Rottiers Brussels CEO

Sonja Rottiers has been appointed as the chief executive officer of Lloyd’s Brussels. She will also be Lloyd’s regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and will take up her position in February. Ms Rottiers replaces Vincent Vandendael who had been appointed to the post in May 2018.

Lloyd’s had announced in August 2018 that Mr Vandendael was leaving the corporation after almost six years to become CEO of International Insurance at Everest Insurance in early 2019.

Ms Rottiers’ career spans over 30 years in the Belgian financial services industry, including senior leadership positions in insurance and banking. Most recently, she was a non-executive board member for ING Belgium, and member of the board of directors for Kinepolis NV Group and Leasinvest Real Estate. Previously, she was chief finance and data officer and executive member of the board of directors of AXA Belgium.

Lloyd’s Brussels has also announced two new additions to its board of directors, with Michel Flamée appointed as chairman of the company and Christian Noyer joining as non-executive director.

Mr Flamée was a member of the board of directors of National Bank of Belgium, and chairman of the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation (CEPANI). Throughout his career he sat in the boards of various regulatory bodies, including the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

Mr Noyer has been honorary governor of the Bank of France since 2015 following a ten year period as the governor. He is also a member of the French Fiscal Council and an adviser to the French government on issues related to Brexit.

Delphine Marchessaux also joins Lloyd’s Brussels in the new year as chief underwriting officer. Ms Marchessaux will take up her post in January and joins from AXA Corporate Solutions in France, where she was head of Underwriting Cargo.

All appointments are subject to approval from the National Bank of Belgium.