Lancashire release statement on Fascione departure

As most readers are probably aware, given this has been common knowledge for a couple of days now, Simon Fascione a key member of the team at insurance and reinsurance group Lancashire Holdings is leaving the firm shortly after it had been announced he was taking on responsibility for its new third-party capital management brand. Fascione had six years at Lancashire and most recently served as Chief Underwriting Officer of Lancashire Insurance Company Limited.

Fascione’s departure has surprised some in the market and been a subject of much conversation at the SIFMA ILS industry event in New York over the last two days. The surprise comes as Fascione was given the additional responsibility of heading up Lancashire’s recently launched third-party capital management brand, Lancashire Capital Management, just two weeks ago.

Fascione is a well-known figure in the space and highly regarded for his approach to underwriting and the successful way he helped Lancashire expand its business. Lancashire has itself issued a statement regarding his departure today to confirm the firms commitment to the newly launched capital management arm.

Richard Brindle, CEO of Lancashire, affirmed his and the firms continuing involvement in the project, saying; “Of course I’m sorry to see one of the team leave and I wish him all the best. As with all we do at Lancashire, the LCM project is a group effort which has contributions from our underwriting, actuarial, finance and operational teams. As I have said, we are convinced of the excellent fit of Lancashire’s unique underwriting and analytical skills and excellent distribution with the emerging interest in the insurance space from capital markets. We have been engaged in this arena since 2006, and look forward to building out our capabilities with our partners”.

Alex Maloney, Group Chief Underwriting Officer, commented; “We’d like to thank Simon for his contributions. As Richard says, Lancashire has always built its success on a team approach by bringing a variety of different disciplines to every new opportunity. We’re excited by the new developments in capital markets as well as the strong opportunities in our specialty and reinsurance lines. We’re actively engaged in LCM discussions with partners, some of whom we’ve known for a while and some of whom we’re getting to know. We will continue with our plans to build out the staffing of LCM and the day to day management will remain under the guidance of Richard Brindle.”

Where Fascione will pop-up in the industry next is of course the source of much speculation, with some suggesting a move to a well-known ILS manager is imminent. At the moment any such rumours are just that.