Beach & Associates has hired Warren Berkstresser as senior vice president of its US reinsurance division, Beach Re.
Joining at the end of October, he will report to Simon Hedley, CEO of Beach North America.
Berkstresser will focus on developing Beach’s US property treaty and speciality programmes business.
In addition, he will launch and run Beach’s new office in Seattle and sit on the North America office head’s executive team.
Berkstresser started his career in the reinsurance industry in 2005 within Guy Carpenter's Instrat Global Analytics. He spent four years within the integrated analytics unit, helping develop risk transfer solutions supported by predictive, financial and catastrophe modelling analyses.
In 2010, Berkstresser joined Willis Re and most recently served as an executive vice president of production and broking, specialising in the property catastrophe market. At Willis Re, he managed a team responsible for analysis, structuring, marketing and negotiating advanced risk transfer strategies consisting of traditional reinsurance, capital market solutions, and accretive business partnerships.
Commenting on Berkstresser, Hedley said: “I am delighted Warren Berkstresser will be joining Beach. The role of the treaty broker is constantly evolving – brokers need to combine the sales aspect and understanding of their marketplace, with deep, technical knowledge.”
He continued: “Berkstresser perfectly embodies this 21st-century approach; he has extensive analytical skills and an outstanding insight of the property and casualty market which complements Beach’s client-focused and analytical approach to the risk transfer process. He is well respected in the market and a fantastic hire for us. I look forward to working with him to further build our property business and presence on the west coast.”
Jason Howard, CEO of Beach Group added: “Acrisure has a significant retail property and casualty presence on the North American west coast so we are happy to be complementing this with our reinsurance capabilities.”
“He will be vital in our US expansion plans and working with our parent Acrisure to identify mutually beneficial opportunities to build upon the Beach franchise,” Howard noted.
