Job Moves and Senior Appointments 19.10.2026

Yes, another week has got into gear, and even though it’s half term for many the job moves just keep coming. Apologies to anyone we missed from this update.

Let’s dive in;

CONDUIT

Conduit Holdings Limited, the ultimate parent company of Conduit Re, a Bermuda-based multi-line reinsurance business, is pleased to announce the engagement of Winfried Knust to support growth in credit, surety, political risk and mortgage classes of reinsurance.

Winfried brings more than three decades of experience across the credit, surety, political risk and mortgage reinsurance markets. Most recently, Winfried was underwriting manager and head of Zurich operations at Navigators Re, where he managed a global team writing trade credit, surety and political risk business. Earlier in his career, he held senior underwriting roles at Aspen Re and Converium (Scor), where he developed and managed profitable portfolios of credit reinsurance.

WOODGATE AND CLARK

Woodgate & Clark, the loss adjusting and claims management business, has appointed Stewart Steel as a non-executive director. He joins the board and will report to managing director Mike Higgins.

Stewart brings extensive experience of the claims and loss adjusting sector, built on a career spanning more than 40 years in the insurance claims market.

Starting his adjusting career at Thomas Howell (now Crawford) in 1983, Stewart spent nearly 20 years there ultimately holding Senior Operational and Business Development Director positions. In 2002, he joined Capita where he led the creation of Teceris Corporate & Complex Adjusting and latterly ran their Commercial Claims Operation. In 2009, Stewart led a group of high-end loss adjusting practitioners to found Vericlaim UK, a business subsequently acquired by Sedgwick.

CLEARWATER UNDERWRITING

Clearwater Underwriting today announces the appointment of Henry MacHale as Chief Executive Officer, a newly created role.

MacHale is currently Chief Underwriting Officer & Head of Strategy, International Markets at Sompo and will leave the organisation ahead of taking up his new position. His appointment marks an important step in Clearwater’s development as the Aquiline-backed MGA looks to build on the platform it has established and pursue its ambitions for the business.

LIBERTY MUTUAL

Liberty Mutual Reinsurance (LM Re) announces the appointment of Fredrik H. Øyan as Market Manager, Nordics. Based in Liberty’s office in Oslo, Øyan joins the company on 1^st November 2026. He will work closely with underwriting teams in Cologne, London and Madrid to strengthen collaboration across the Nordic markets and support the continued growth of the business in Northern Europe.

Øyan brings more than 20 years of experience in the Nordic insurance and reinsurance markets. He has held overall underwriting responsibility for property and casualty lines of business for more than a decade, while also leading reinsurance purchasing across all lines. During his time at Protector Forsikring ASA, Øyan played a central role in its expansion into Sweden, Denmark and the UK, and has built longstanding relationships with leading insurers, reinsurers and brokers across the Nordics and key international reinsurance hubs, including London, Zurich, Cologne and Munich. He has both underwriting and broking experience, at Protector Forsikring ASA and Willis in London.

TMK

Tokio Marine HCC (TMHCC) – Specialty Group, a member of the Tokio Marine HCC (TMHCC) group of companies based in Houston, Texas,  announces the promotion of Mark Hutton to Chief Underwriting Officer and Global Head of Crisis Management. He takes up the role with immediate effect and will remain reporting to Philip Hall, Managing Director of TMHCC – Specialty Group.

Hutton succeeds Sean Curtin, President of Specialty Group, in leading the global Crisis Management business. He assumes overall responsibility for Kidnap & Ransom, Product Recall, Active Assailant and their related product lines. His remit for the Global Crisis Management business will span strategy, operations, underwriting and financial performance across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia.

Hutton joined Specialty Group in May 2024 as Head of Crisis Management, International, to launch its Product Recall offering in London and extend the group’s US product recall expertise into international markets. He brings three decades of industry experience, having previously served as Global Product Head for Product Recall at AXA XL and Head of Casualty at McLarens Young International. Prior to this, he developed a market-leading book at XL Catlin.

ANTARES GLOBAL