– UK, London – Helios Underwriting plc (LON: HUW) the unique investment vehicle which acquires and consolidates private underwriting capacity at Lloyd’s, today announced the appointments of Tom Libassi and Martin Reith to its Board as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract two individuals of such reputation, experience and calibre to work with us at Helios Underwriting as we continue to grow the business and accelerate our consolidation of underwriting capacity at Lloyd’s. On behalf of the Board, I welcome Tom and Martin to the Company and look forward to working together during these exciting times in a hardening insurance market.” said CEO, Nigel Hanbury.
About Tom Libassi
Tom Libassi is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ILS Capital Management, an investment firm specializing in insurance-linked securities, of which funds under management of, or associated with, participated in the Company’s recent fundraising. Before founding ILS Capital, Mr. Libassi was a Managing Director at Strategic Value Partners as well as holding the position of Chairman at Mach Gen LLC. From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Libassi was a Senior Managing Director at GSC Group where he founded the corporate lending group and served as a senior investment professional.
From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Libassi was SVP and Portfolio Manager at Mitchell Hutchins, a subsidiary of PaineWebber Inc., where he was responsible for managing approximately $1.2 billion of high yield assets for the Paine Webber Mutual Funds. In 1998, Mr. Libassi developed and launched the approximately $550 million Managed High Yield Plus Fund, a leveraged closed-end fund. From 1986 to 1994, Mr. Libassi was a VP and Portfolio Manager at Keystone Custodian Funds, Inc., with portfolio management responsibilities for three diverse institutional high yield accounts with $250 million in collective assets.
Mr. Libassi received an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Economics and Government from Connecticut College.
About Martin Reith
Martin Reith has over 30 years of experience across underwriting, management, and leadership. Most recently, he held board positions at Neon Underwriting Limited, as CEO from 2015 to 2019 and then assumed a Non-Executive role until 2020. He was the Founder and CEO of Ascot Underwriting Limited, which he established in 2001 with the support and backing of AIG. Under Mr. Reith’s leadership, Ascot became one of the largest and top-performing businesses in Lloyd’s with a network of overseas offices. In 2009, Mr. Reith stepped down as CEO and served as a Non-Executive on Ascot’s Board from 2009 to 2011. Before Ascot, he served as CEO of XL Capital’s Insurance Operations in London. He is the founder of his family’s charitable trust and former Chairman of Derby-based charity, The Maria Hanson Foundation. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors at AmWINS Group Inc. and has previously served as Advisory Director to Securis Investment Partners LLP, an ILS fund based in London.
About Helios
Helios provides a limited liability direct investment into Lloyd’s insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market (ticker: HUW). Helios trades within Lloyd’s insurance market writing approximately £110m of capacity for the 2021 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance.
For more information, visit www.huwplc.com.
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