Ascot hires Craigs as Managing Principal, Bermuda Third-Party Capital

Ascot Group, the specialist global insurance and reinsurance underwriter owned by CPP Investments, the investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan, has announced the hiring of former Canopius executive Charles Craigs as its new Managing Principal overseeing the firm’s Third-Party Capital initiatives in Bermuda.

Craigs will report to Ian Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Ascot Bermuda and in the newly created role will work to further evolve the strategy of Ascot’s reinsurance sidecar and other third-party capital vehicles and ventures.

Craigs most recently worked at Canopius Re and had spent 15 years in executive leadership roles in the company’s London and Bermuda offices.

Most recently Craigs was the Chief Executive Officer of the Canopius Bermuda platform and Group Head of Reinsurance Underwriting.

In his time at Canopius, he also managed a Class 4 insurance company, a global reinsurance portfolio, and led the structuring and marketing of that firm’s ILS platform.

“I am certain that Charles, bringing with him superb leadership skills and a track record of capital raising success, along with nearly 25 years of industry experience, will be key to the further development and expansion of our risk partnerships as we look to achieve significant growth in our third-party efforts for Ascot in Bermuda,” explained Ian Thompson.

“With increased investor appetite and Ascot’s record of underwriting strength and profitability, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity ahead under Charles’ leadership.”

Craigs added, “I look forward to articulating Ascot’s impressive narrative – a first-class underwriting offering, top industry talent and solid financials – to the investment community as we deepen relationships and grow our partnerships in the third-party space.”

Ascot had previously managed third-party capital from investors using a collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle named Canro Re Ltd.

Artemis understands that the Canro Re sidecar had derived most if not all of its funding via an investment vehicle owned by CPP Investments, the investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the capital was allocated to property catastrophe retrocession opportunities.

It’s not clear to us whether that is still a structure in use today, but we do understand Ascot has a number of structures through which it partners directly with a range of investors, to share in its underwriting returns and performance.