Gallagher Re’s McManus to lead Bermuda ILW and index-cat bond capabilities

Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re has appointed industry-loss warranty (ILW) and retrocession broker Alex McManus to lead its index-based capabilities in Bermuda.

McManus has been a London-based retro and ILW broker at Gallagher Re for almost five years, prior to which he worked at AJG since 2012.

He will now be tasked with leading all index-based reinsurance and retro risk transfer initiatives in Bermuda, working closely with Gallagher Securities, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) arm of the broker.

With this appointment, Gallagher Re wants to enable industry loss warranty (ILW) and catastrophe bond capabilities to be readily available to the Bermuda market.

With a goal of better serving Gallagher Re’s existing client base, plus giving its broader customer network across the globe greater access to index-based capacity for reinsurance and retrocessional needs.

McManus has been instrumental in growing Gallagher Re’s ILW offering and has extensive experience in the index-based risk transfer space, with time spent focusing on direct, reinsurance and retrocession markets during his career.

With strong connectivity to both London and North American colleagues, as well as to the Artex Capital Solutions unit that is prolific in managing ILS structures, McManus will help Gallagher Re clients gain access to the full suite of alternative capital solutions, which the brokers notes is a growing requirement in a more challenging reinsurance market.

Gallagher Re has also appointed Romain Kapfer to lead its specialty reinsurance broking business in Bermuda, which the broker said will support the growing diversification within the Bermudian reinsurance market

Kapfer has over 15 years’ experience across London market and North American specialty treaty reinsurance, most recently leading sales and strategy for Gallagher Re UK’s marine and energy division as Executive Director. He joined the company as part of the Willis Re acquisition.

Ben Radford, Head of Bermuda, Gallagher Re, commented, “The Bermudian reinsurance market is intricate, exciting and one in which we see huge value and potential for growth.

“Having the expertise and experience of Romain and Alex in Bermuda speaks directly to our strategy of relevance – ensuring we have the right people on the island, with the right capabilities, for the right reasons. Individuals who can speak to multiple product disciplines and provide our clients with a product agnostic view of how best to access capital in a more capacity constrained marketplace is key to our approach.

“Clients and carriers alike in Bermuda tell us they want a more global, multi-class offering from brokers, one that not only has a deep understanding of specialisms but can connect business globally. Our ongoing investment is designed to deliver just that.”