ILS backed Arcus Syndicate 1856 adds another underwriter

Arcus Syndicate 1856 at Lloyd’s of London, backed by funds under management by the Credit Suisse insurance and reinsurance linked investment strategies team, has announced the hire of experienced property treaty underwriter Sarah Smith.

Smith has more than 22 years of experience in the reinsurance market and will report directly to active underwriter at Arcus 1856 Nicky Payne.

Smith was most recently a property treaty underwriter at Berkley Re UK Ltd., having joined that firm in 2014 and helped to develop its international property treaty portfolio. Before Berkley Re, Smith worked as an underwriting operations manager at Advent Capital Holdings and a property treaty underwriter at Everest Reinsurance.

Arcus 1856 active underwriter Payne commented on the hire; “We are delighted to announce another addition to our underwriting team. Sarah is a highly driven and focused underwriter, with a proven track record for realising new opportunities for growth. She has a multi-faceted skills base with vast experience in the property treaty arena, along with a great working knowledge of all aspects of the underwriting process and a strong compliance background.

“I’m very much looking forward to working closely with her as we look to build on the success that Arcus 1856 has achieved to date.”

The Credit Suisse ILS team’s Arcus Syndicate 1856 began trading on January 1^st 2016, fully capitalised with funds managed by the Credit Suisse ILS investment management team.

The syndicate underwrites a diversified portfolio of reinsurance business on an international basis, with its primary focus on lines such as property reinsurance and specialty classes including marine, energy, cyber, space and aviation.

It provides the Credit Suisse ILS team with access to business in the Lloyd’s market, as a well as vehicle that can capitalise on the leverage available to syndicates there.