Aspen Capital Markets hires Chris Lee from Hiscox Re & ILS as COO

Aspen Capital Markets, the third-party and alternative reinsurance capital management unit of global re/insurer Aspen, has announced the hiring of Chris Lee as Chief Operating Officer (COO), who joins the company from Hiscox Re & ILS.

Chris Lee will be based in Bermuda for Aspen and as COO will take responsibility for driving strategic investments in technology and change, with the goal of driving continued growth of Aspen Capital Markets.

He will work closely with Aspen’s operations and technology teams as they seek to implement best practices in processes, systems and data, to enhance the Aspen Capital Markets value proposition.

Lee joins from Hiscox Re & ILS, where he had initially driven the firm’s data and insights strategy as Head of Insight before assuming the role of COO, spending three years in that role.

Brian Tobben, CEO, Aspen Capital Partners, commented on the hire, “We are delighted to welcome Chris to the team and look forward to his contribution to the capital markets franchise. We are confident that he will be a valued addition as we expand our product offerings to investors.”

Lee added, “I am excited to be joining Aspen Capital Markets at such an exciting part of its journey, and I look forward to working with Brian and the team to realize Aspen’s ambitions.”

This new hire is a replacement for the recently departed Aspen Capital Markets COO Sal Tucci, who has departed the firm to start his own venture.

Aspen Capital Markets had increased its third-party capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) assets under management to roughly $1 billion by the middle of 2022.

Aspen Capital Markets specialises in constructing tailor-made portfolios of reinsurance for investors, utilising managed insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds, as well as quota share sidecar structures that are transacted via its Peregrine Re vehicle.

The third-party reinsurance capital unit continues to expand its activities in specialty and casualty lines as well, bringing an increasingly wide range of risks to investors.