Pen Underwriting appoints Tom Downey as Chief Underwriting Officer
Pen Underwriting today announces Tom Downey has been appointed as Chief Underwriting Officer with effect from 1 October 2017. In his new role, Tom will assume responsibility for underwriting, capacity management, pricing, analytics, risk & governance, claims and marketing across all of Pen’s trading divisions.
Tom has been part of Pen Underwriting’s executive team and Managing Director of Specialty since 2014, when he joined Pen Underwriting and became responsible for its largest, most diverse division to develop and deliver specialist underwriting solutions for UK, US and internationally-based business.
He came to Pen after a successful 25-year career with RSA where he was responsible for shaping the strategy of and managing its UK MGAs and delegated schemes.
Tom’s promotion sees two other members of Pen’s leadership team assume executive-level responsibility for distinct areas of the former Specialty division, as of 1 October 2017:
- Jennifer Martin, Managing Director of Financial Lines, will join the Pen Executive with Financial Lines becoming its own trading division and incorporating Pen’s professional indemnity accounts, directors’ & officers’, personal accident & travel, recruitment agency business and growing cyber liability portfolio.
- Steve Thornett, Development Director, will become Managing Director of Specialty Lines incorporating motor fleet, construction, Pen’s schemes business, the high hazard portfolio and the global specialties account while continuing with some of his central innovation and development activities.
Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive Officer at Pen Underwriting, said: “Over the past three years, Tom has done a phenomenal job of shaping, leading and growing Pen’s largest and most diverse division. His unwavering focus on driving profitable growth, thinking strategically, achieving insurer loss ratios, and so strengthening our carrier relationships whilst embedding good governance, make him the ideal Chief Underwriting Officer as Pen embarks on its next phase of development.
“I’m also delighted that Tom’s move to his new role enables us to promote internally from the fantastic pool of talented individuals we have within Pen. I know that Jen and Steve will build on the great work undertaken by Tom in positioning Pen as the go-to specialty underwriting business.”
Tom Downey said: “This is a really exciting time to be taking on a new role at Pen. Now that we’ve consolidated all our underwriting businesses and built a genuine virtual insurer able to offer technical pricing, analytics, governance and claims handling capabilities in addition to all the underwriting skills of a standard MGA, we can deliver so much more for our capacity partners, coverholders, brokers and clients.”
For further press information, please contact:
Lynn Rouse,
External Communications,
Pen Underwriting
+44 (0) 20 3425 3416
lynn_rouse@penunderwriting.com
Haggie Partners
Samantha Whiteley/ Chanice Smith
+44 (0) 20 7562 4444
samantha.whiteley@haggie.co.uk/ chanice.smith@haggie.co.uk
Notes to Editors:-
Pen Underwriting
Pen Underwriting is a multi-class, multi-territory managing general agent (MGA) that operates as a virtual insurer, meaning it can fulfil all the typical functions of an insurance company — from sales, distribution, pricing and product innovation through to claims, analytics and governance — except carry risk.
Pen Underwriting has four divisions — Commercial, Specialty, Financial Lines and Volume — offering a wide and growing range of specialisms from e-Solutions and delegated authorities for volume business through to specialty products with individual underwriting for hard-to-find placements. With a national branch presence across 18 locations, more than 350 insurance professionals and generating more than £500m GWP, Pen Underwriting represents one of the largest underwriting agencies in the UK.
For more information see www.penunderwriting.co.uk