Upland welcomes new chief underwriting officer

Upland welcomes new chief underwriting officer | Insurance Business America

Insurance News

Upland welcomes new chief underwriting officer

Key hire brings over 20 years of insurance experience

Insurance News

By
Abigail Adriatico

Upland Capital Group, Inc. (Upland), a specialty property and casualty insurer, has announced that Kate Walas has been promoted to chief underwriting officer.

James Damonte, the president of Upland’s insurance operations will continue to be Upland’s president of insurance operations while overseeing all of the underwriting and claims operations of the firm. Commenting on Walas’ promotion, Damonte said her experience will be vital in the growth of the insurer.

“Kate embodies the ‘we-entrepreneur’ mindset that is our mission here at Upland,” he said. “Her experience founding Indigo Specialty Underwriters and proven success managing multiple product lines makes her uniquely qualified to guide Upland’s underwriting operations as we continue to promote operational efficiencies, underwriting governess and risk adherence within our product teams,” he said further.

Who is Kate Walas?

Walas has over 18 years of experience within the insurance industry. Prior to her promotion, Walas served as Upland’s senior vice president, professional liability underwriting. Before joining Upland, she was the chief underwriting officer at Indigo Specialty Underwriters. She previously worked for Dual North America as its senior vice president, cyber underwriting before becoming its EVP division leader of professional liability.

Walas had also taken on the role of vice president, head of cyber and MPL underwriting operations at AXA XL as well as various positions in XL Catlin such as underwriting manager, financial lines; global programs underwriting manager; and vice president, global professional underwriting.

She first began her career as a specialty lines underwriter, transportation at Northland/Travelers Insurance. Walas received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at the University of Connecticut.