PartnerRe appoints Nicholas Hughes to lead expanded retro team

PartnerRe, the Bermuda headquartered and EXOR owned reinsurance company, has announced the appointment of Nicholas Hughes as Head of Retrocession, alongside the additions of Aaron Coates from Twelve Capital and Guy Hengesbaugh, formerly of Guy Carpenter Bermuda.

In this newly created position, Hughes is set to lead the reinsurer’s expanded retrocession team as part of the company’s strategic growth plan for Global Catastrophe. He will be based in the firm’s Bermuda office, and will continue to report to Greg Haft, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Global Catastrophe.

Hughes most recently served as Head of Global Catastrophe at PartnerRe, a role that included responsibility for assumed retrocession and the global accounts portfolio. He joined PartnerRe in 2008 with a specialist focus in U.S., international, and retro catastrophe underwriting and portfolio management.

Alongside Hughes’ appointment, PartnerRe has also welcomed Coates to its retro team as an Assumed Retrocession Underwriter, effective November 7th, 2020.

Coates joins the firm from Twelve Capital, the Zurich headquartered catastrophe bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked investment fund manager, where he most recently served as Executive Director, ILS Sourcing, responsible for developing the underwriting strategy within the retro market and the delivery of profitable private ILS investment portfolios to third-party investors.

Coates will relocate to Bermuda for this role, subject to immigration approval, and will report to Hughes, as will Hengesbaugh, and also Mark Mitchell, who currently works as VP, Senior Underwriter within the retro team.

Based in Bermuda, Hengesbaugh also joins PartnerRe’s retro team as an Assumed Retrocession Underwriter, but on a consultancy basis. He brings more than 35 years of reinsurance experience to the firm, of which more than 26 have been spent in the Bermuda marketplace. Most recently, he served as Managing Director at Guy Carpenter Bermuda, focusing on reinsurance and retrocessional business for Bermuda and U.S. clients.

Haft commented, “I am excited to welcome Aaron and Guy to the PartnerRe team. As the catastrophe market shifts, we anticipate an increasing demand in the retrocession space for known and trusted providers with well-rated paper. We are thus adding to our incumbent talent to build a powerhouse retro team under Nick’s leadership, to fill this important market need.”