Conduit Holdings has appointed three non-executive directors to the board of Bermuda-based reinsurer Conduit Re, as the reinsurance firm looks to strengthen its governance credentials amid shifting regulatory expectations.
Richard Lightowler, Peter Mullen, and Penny Shaw took their seats effective March 26. Lightowler and Shaw will serve on the audit and remuneration committees, while Mullen joins the remuneration committee.
Board chair Nicholas Shott said the appointments "underline our commitment to the highest standards of governance," adding that the three bring significant industry experience to the firm.
Lightowler spent nearly 20 years as a partner at KPMG in Bermuda, where he headed the firm's Insurance Group and worked closely with the Bermuda Monetary Authority. He played a role in helping the jurisdiction achieve Solvency II equivalence, KPMG noted upon his retirement from the firm.
Mullen co-founded Artex Risk Solutions in 1997 and built it into a global alternative risk platform over more than two decades. He stepped into the Artex chairman role in January 2025.
Shaw, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary, most recently served as group chief risk officer at Hanover Insurance Group. She earlier established ACE's (now Chubb) European Solvency II program, as Hiscox Group highlighted when naming her group CRO in 2012. She has more than 30 years of experience across the London Market and international reinsurance.
The appointments land at a time of tighter oversight across Bermuda's re/insurance sector. The BMA introduced new governance requirements at the end of 2024 covering data policy, enterprise risk management, and model documentation.
The jurisdiction is also preparing for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force's 5th Round Mutual Evaluation, which sets a higher bar than earlier rounds.
Conduit Re raised $1 billion when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2020, in what was then the largest IPO start-up on the exchange. The board expansion signals a move from start-up governance toward a more institutionalized structure.
The board changes come as Conduit reported an 11.1% return on equity for full-year 2025. Gross premiums written rose 6.9% to $1.24 billion.
CEO Neil Eckert said earnings were "supported by strong investment performance" and "benign claims activity during the second half," following a difficult start to the year.
Casualty reinsurance premiums grew 23% to $392.3 million, while property premiums rose 2.2% to $659.4 million. The California wildfires, the largest absorbed loss in Conduit Re's history, added 15.3 percentage points to the undiscounted net loss ratio.
Net investment results totaled $119.5 million, for a return of 6.7%.
