Castel Underwriting Agencies appoints new head of specialty

Managing general agent (MGA) Castel Underwriting Agencies has appointed Raoul Carlos as its new head of specialty.

Carlos will lead the firm’s Specialty Centre of Excellence and have overall responsibility for the strategy and execution of underwriting performance and portfolio management across seven classes of business.

Previously, Carlos acted as head of onshore energy at Arch Insurance, overseeing the development and delivery of global downstream, midstream, power and renewables classes of business.

He also spent five years working for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, underwriting mining and onshore energy risks in both London and Zurich.

New structure

Carlos’s appointment follows a business restructure, as Castel Underwriting Agencies moves its underwriting cells and MGAs into a number of different centres of excellence, which are focused on core classes of business.

Aside from the Specialty Centre of Excellence, other centres will include construction and engineering, and warranty and indemnity.

Mark Birrell, chief executive at Castel Underwriting Agencies, said: “Castel has built a strong track record and proven model supporting entrepreneurial underwriters.

“To support the next phase of our growth, we have initially established three centres of excellence and are strengthening the management team to maximise their strategic and operational impact.

“Raoul brings us significant expertise in managing and delivering strong-performing portfolios of specialty lines business.”

Carlos added: “The centres of excellence strategy will enable Castel to optimise the performance of its existing classes for the underwriters and our carrier partners.

“We will also continue to identify new opportunities for entrepreneurial underwriters with robust business plans to expand our portfolio.”