Asta expands senior management team with three new hires

Lloyd’s of London MGA Asta, owned by Davies Group, has made three new hires within its senior management team in order to support the firm’s ”continuing growth”.

This includes appointing Westfield Specialty Insurance’s former head of underwriting performance management, David Hopkins, as deputy chief underwriting officer – effective from August 2024 – as well as naming Alex Poracchia as transformation director, effective from July 2024.

In addition, Julie Flello has been appointed as Asta’s new head of client management. She joined the MGA in April 2024 following a 12-year stint at Lloyd’s of London, where she performed roles such as senior account manager and survey and claims coordinator.

Lorraine Harfitt, chief executive at Asta, welcomed the new team members.

She said: “Together, they bring with them an extensive profile of skills and experience to our senior management team, boasting capabilities essential to our success.

“Their appointments reflect our continuing growth and our desire to source top level talent to best serve our clients.”

Experience

Hopkins has 27 years of financial services experience, which includes strategic decision-making skills and actuarial expertise.

Prior to his four-year tenure at Westfield Specialty Insurance, he held senior positions at Argo, Axis and Antares.

In a post on social media site LinkedIn two weeks ago, Hopkins said he was “pleased” with his new position and that he could not “wait to get started”.

Poracchia, meanwhile, was previously international insurance chief financial officer and chief actuary at Everest Insurance for four years between April 2020 and March 2024.

Prior to this, he had roles at professional services firm Deloitte and Zurich Financial Services.