Distinguished launches property-focused reinsurance arm
US P&C MGA Distinguished, a White Mountains subsidiary, has expanded into the reinsurance market with the launch of Distinguished Reinsurance (DistinguishedRe), marking its first move into the sector and opening with a property reinsurance platform.
Led by Aspen’s former global head of property facultative reinsurance Frank DiPaola, DistinguishedRe Property is now operational and is backed by Bermuda-based Antares Re that writes property, casualty and specialty business. Antares Re is rated A- by both AM Best and S&P and forms part of the Antares Global insurance group, owned by QIC.
The property reinsurance operation offers up to $50 million of capacity across excess of loss facultative, semi-automatic and property treaty placements. Its underwriting appetite includes US domestic and international property schedules, as well as direct and brokered individual risk, facultative automatic and treaty business.
DiPaola has more than 25 years of reinsurance experience and will lead a team comprising facultative and treaty underwriters, pricing actuaries, catastrophe modelling specialists and legal professionals.
The launch represents Distinguished’s latest specialist underwriting expansion, following the introduction of marine cargo, crisis management and transactional risk programmes.
Jason Rotman, president of Distinguished, said: “Expanding into reinsurance is a natural next step for us, as we see strong potential for the MGA structure in this space. Ultimately, our strategy is to invest behind experienced and talented teams, and we are thrilled that Frank and his colleagues have joined us. We are equally excited to work with the Antares team as we collectively build this program.”
DiPaola added: “We see a strong opportunity to bring a more thoughtful, disciplined approach to the property reinsurance market. I’m excited to lead this expansion as we build a well-balanced portfolio across key markets and partners. Our focus is on delivering responsive underwriting and tailored facultative excess of loss solutions that align with each client’s needs.”
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