McGill & Partners opens Bermuda office, hires Aspen’s Kate Vacher

McGill and Partners, the boutique risk solutions and broking firm launched by former Aon President Steve McGill, has announced the launch of a Bermuda office and the hire of Aspen’s Kate Vacher as its CEO on the island.

McGill and Partners said that it has already recieved regulatory approval for its Bermuda operation and that the new office will officially open later this month.

With Bermuda a key international insurance and reinsurance hub, McGill’s presence on the island will add to the range of risk broking and solutions providers, while ensuring McGill is positioned at the heart of global catastrophe risk transfer and in proximity to a significant proportion of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market as well.

Kate Vacher has taken on the role of CEO for the McGill and Partners Bermuda entity and will report into Angus Milgate, Head of International Treaty Reinsurance at the company

Vacher began her career in London, as an underwriter at Lloyd’s, before joining Aspen Insurance as one of the original team.

She has since held a number of senior roles including Group Director of Underwriting with responsibilities for planning, reinsurance purchasing and capital optimisation across all lines (Property, Casualty, Specialty Insurance and Reinsurance).

Vacher was also Active Underwriter of the Aspen Syndicate for six years, before she moved to Bermuda as CEO of the Aspen Bermuda platform.

Vacher’s hire continues the expansion of McGill’s Treaty Reinsurance team which has grown substantially in the last year.

McGill and Partners has now expanded to have a presence in London, New York, Miami and Dublin, in addition to the new Bermuda hub, while its eadcount has now surpasses 360 colleagues hired.

Angus Milgate, Head of Treaty Reinsurance at McGill and Partners said, “For decades, the (re)insurance market in Bermuda has consistently innovated to maintain its position as a major global (re)insurance centre. We expect this momentum to continue as Bermuda is a world-class (re)insurance marketplace for both financial and human capital, and a natural location for McGill and Partners.

“Kate brings an incredible breadth and depth of experience, together with extensive industry contacts and we are delighted to have her on-board for this exciting milestone in the McGill and Partners adventure.”

Steve McGill, CEO of McGill and Partners added, “Bermuda was a clear next step for us as we continue our international expansion, and we are excited at the prospect of the hub growing over the next few years. Direct access to the market in Bermuda will help to facilitate mutual success across all our offices and compound the firm’s significant growth.

“We are delighted to have Kate on board to take the reins of the Bermuda office. The whole team is looking forward to working with her.”