Aspen hires former AXA XL exec John Welch as CUO Reinsurance

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, the Bermuda headquartered insurance and reinsurance company, has appointed former AXA XL senior reinsurance executive John Welch as the firm’s new Chief Underwriting Officer, Reinsurance.

Joining Aspen on June 26th, Welch brings the firm over 30 years of experience in the reinsurance market, having held key senior executive roles at global players.

Most recently, Welch was the Chief Executive for Domestic Markets at AXA XL Re, where he led local reinsurance underwriting teams around the world.

He had previously been AXA XL’s CEO for Reinsurance in North America and held the same role at XL Catlin Group, while he was President of XL Reinsurance America prior to that. He had also worked as a reinsurance actuary at US insurer Travelers.

At Aspen, as Chief Underwriting Officer, Reinsurance, Welch will lead the reinsurance activities of the group, including designing and delivering the underwriting strategy for the segment.

He will report to Christian Dunleavy, Group Chief Underwriting Officer of Aspen, and Welch will also join the Group Executive Committee and will be based in Stamford, CT for the firm.

Christian Dunleavy, Group Chief Underwriting Officer, commented on the news, “John is an excellent addition to the Aspen family. He is an established leader in the reinsurance industry with an impressive track record of building new businesses and driving profitable growth. John will play a crucial role driving Aspen’s ambitious agenda for its reinsurance segment.”

Welch added, “I am impressed by the quality and expertise of Aspen’s team and the strong results of Aspen and its reinsurance segment. The business is at an exciting point, and I look forward to working with Aspen Re’s customers on their risk management challenges.”

As a reminder, Aspen Capital Markets, the third-party and alternative reinsurance capital management unit of Aspen, grew its assets under management by 42% to reach $1.3 billion over full-year 2022.

In his new position at the firm, Welch will presumably have underwriting oversight of reinsurance transactions that Aspen enters into on behalf of its third-party and ILS investors.