IQUW continues reinsurance build out with addition of Nephila’s Thornton

IQUW, the rebranded ARCUS 1856 Syndicate at Lloyd’s, has made some additions to its reinsurance team, including the appointment of Helen Thornton from Nephila Capital as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of its Bermuda reinsurance operation and Group Head of Finance.

At Nephila, the largest dedicated investment manager in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space, Thornton served as co-Head of Reinsurance and Chief Operations Officer since 2011, where she was responsible for leading the finance and operations teams and co-leading the reinsurance division.

At IQUW, she takes on the roles of CFO for IQUW Re Bermuda Limited and Group Head of Finance.

“I am delighted to join IQUW to continue the build out its Bermuda operation alongside Rene, Stephen and Vanessa. IQUW has already begun to deliver on its potential to become a successful (re)insurance firm with a clear growth vision. I’m thrilled to be joining the team,” said Thornton.

At the same time, IQUW has added Vanessa O’Flynn as Office Manager and Executive Assistant. O’Flynn previously served as Chief Administrative Officer at Third Point Re from the company’s inception until January of 2020. Earlier in her career, O’Flynn worked at reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, Allied World, and Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe.

The appointments of Thornton and O’Flynn come after the recent hires of Rene Lamer as Managing Director for Underwriting and Operations in Bermuda, and Stephen Young as Head of Reinsurance and CEO of the Bermuda platform.

Commenting on the latest hires, Young said: “As we build out IQUW’s Reinsurance platform, we will continue to recruit a high-quality team with broad skills that can be leveraged across the Group. Helen joins us with a wealth of reinsurance, finance and operations experience that she can bring to bear across the organisation as we continue to build a profitable, diversified reinsurance portfolio.”