Conduit Re hires advisor to broaden credit surety
These areas do not represent current focus lines for the company, whose primary specialties include aviation, marine, energy, engineering and construction risks, as well as political violence exposures.
This initiative follows a challenging market period for the company’s specialty segment, where first-half 2026 premiums contracted by 4.7% and the segment’s undiscounted combined ratio reached 104.8%, partly due to Middle East conflict-related losses.
Credit and surety reinsurance traditionally delivers stronger underwriting results, with lower combined ratios and reduced exposure to large-scale loss events – characteristics that align with reinsurers’ pursuit of more stable returns.
Most recently, he served as underwriting manager and Zurich operations leader at Navigators Re, overseeing a global portfolio covering trade credit, surety, and political risk. Earlier in his career, he held senior underwriting positions at Aspen Insurance Holdings, where he developed credit reinsurance portfolios over more than a decade. His established industry relationships justify the consulting arrangement rather than a full-time hire, according to Stephen Postlewhite, Conduit Re’s chief underwriting officer, who characterized the engagement as supporting “selective enhancement” of the company’s product offerings.
Relationships with primary insurers (cedants) hold particular importance in the CPRI (credit and political risk insurance) market. Howden Re observes that the reinsurance segment relies heavily on a limited group of recognized lead underwriters, and insufficient specialist capacity can restrict growth opportunities for cedants seeking coverage solutions.
The CPRI market has shown robust growth, with Howden Re’s credit and political risk team reporting 10% expansion in US credit, surety, and fidelity lines during the first half of 2025 – more than double the 5% growth seen in major US commercial lines. Since that period, additional reinsurance capacity has entered the market, and Howden Re expects this gradual market softening trend to persist.
