The UK P&I Club has named William Beveridge as its new chief underwriting officer following the departure of Christopher Brown earlier this year.
Beveridge joins from Newline Underwriting, the international insurance division of Odyssey Group.
He previously worked at Advent Insurance and Arch Insurance. He has also sat on the Joint Hull Committee and the International Union of Marine Insurance’s Ocean Hull Committee.
UK Club chief executive Andrew Taylor said: “William’s considerable experience of the marine and wider insurance market will be a huge asset to the club as we pursue our diversification and growth strategy while maintaining our excellence in disciplined underwriting and quality risk selection.”
Beveridge replaces Brown who left to join the UK Club’s Rotterdam office. Brown is being lined up to replace Hugo Wynn-Williams as chief executive of Thomas Miller company UKNV this summer.
UKNV is the company through which — following Brexit — the UK Club writes all European risk and it also acts as a fronting solution for a number of other Thomas Miller clubs.
Wynn-Williams will continue in an advisory role for Thomas Miller and its clients as president of Thomas Miller Bermuda.
Significant progress
One of Beveridge’s roles will be to continue to improve the UK Club’s underwriting performance. Two years ago the UK Club reported a combined ratio of 150%, indicating a significant loss in its underwriting activities.
But, its latest earnings for the 2021 policy year, showed its combined ratio had improved to 115%.
As a result of the market upheavals, the UK Club’s free reserves have also fallen, from $534m in 2020 to $488m at the end of the 2021 policy year.
Nicholas Inglessis, chairman of the UK Club, said: “The club has made significant progress over the last two years towards correcting premium ratings and stabilising the underwriting result.”
