Aspen appoints new group chief underwriting officer

Aspen has appointed John Welch as its new group chief underwriting officer, effective from 1 August 2025.

Welch, who joined Aspen as chief underwriting officer for reinsurance in June 2023, brings over 30 years of experience across global players, including Axa XL and XL Catlin Group.

In his new role, Welch will oversee the development and execution of Aspen’s underwriting strategy across the group.

He will report to Christian Dunleavy, group president and chief executive at Aspen Bermuda.

Commenting on the promotion, Dunleavy said: ”Welch’s promotion reflects his broad and deep expertise and experience and further strengthens the underwriting and leadership capabilities that underpin Aspen’s continued success and our ability to serve our customers, trading partners and investors alike.”

Aspen activity

Welch’s appointment follows a period of strategic underwriting realignment at Aspen, as the business continues to focus on technical discipline and portfolio optimisation across its reinsurance and insurance platforms.

For example, at a similar time last year, Aspen promoted Tony Bishop to chief data and analytics officer, a role in which he oversees the company’s data and analytics strategy alongside its data labs aimed at enhancing operational efficiency in underwriting and claims processes.

In January 2025, Aspen opted to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) rather than the London Stock Exchange. Aspen was previously listed on the NYSE before being taken private by Apollo in 2019. Aspen is now valued at approximately £3bn.

Notably, with a majority of Aspen’s employees based in the UK, its choice to list in New York raised questions about the LSE’s competitiveness at the time, despite ongoing efforts to improve its appeal to insurers and other private companies considering public listings.