TigerRisk adds reinsurance & ILS broking veteran Paul Karon

TigerRisk Partners LLC has added its second high-profile hire in a week, announcing that reinsurance and ILS focused broking veteran Paul Karon is joining the capital agnostic reinsurance brokerage as Vice Chairman.

Just last week TigerRisk Partners announced that it had snapped up Tony Ursano as President, the ex-CEO of Willis’ WCMA capital markets and insurance-linked securities unit.

Now the addition of Paul Karon, a reinsurance broking executive that has worked across both the traditional and alternative, or capital market, side of the business, is another important hire for the firm as it continues to build out its integrated reinsurance and capital markets broking approach.

“With his years of top-level reinsurance broking leadership experience, Paul will play a strategic role in the continued growth of TigerRisk,” Rod Fox, CEO of TigerRisk, commented on the announcement. “Paul’s skills are recognized and valued throughout the insurance and reinsurance industry. I look forward to working with him again.”

Karon, as Vice Chairman, will be a senior leader in the TigerRisk team, as well as a dealmaker. The TigerRisk leadership team will also tap Karon for strategic advisory and mentorship.

Jim Stanard, Chairman of TigerRisk, said; “I have known Paul for over 20 years. He is one of an elite group of top brokers in the business. We are excited to have him as part of the Tiger team.”

Karon started in the reinsurance industry as a broker in 1985 with E.W. Blanch, where he was known as an innovator in the property catastrophe market. Alongside Rod Fox, he co-founded Benfield Inc. in 2000 and served as President/COO at the broker, ultimately taking on the positions of CEO and Chairman. Karon also served on the board of Benfield PLC, the parent company, which traded on the London exchange.

Karon served as Chairman Americas of Aon Benfield, after the acquisition by Aon, and was a member of the global executive committee. He later joined AQR Re, a Bermuda-based reinsurance company and insurance-linked investment manager sponsored by asset manager AQR Capital, in 2012 as Vice Chairman and served on its board of directors.

“This is a dynamic time in the industry as the interrelationship of the traditional markets and the capital markets grows in importance at a remarkable pace. I look forward to bringing my experience, on both the brokerage and underwriting sides, to bear as well as helping Tiger continue to lead and innovate,” Karon said.

Recent hires at brokers demonstrate the importance of the capital markets and that senior broking hires have rounded experience, across the capital landscape. This enables them to better serve clients and cedents, with an agnostic approach to where capacity comes from, focusing instead on the quality, fit and flexibility of markets instead.