The Fidelis Partnership has promoted four executives to lead specialty classes including D&F, credit, energy and cargo, as the Bermuda-based re/insurance specialist pushes to become one of the biggest operators in the Lloyd's market.
The appointments place Grahame Dawson at the helm of D&F in London, Mel Puskar as group head of credit, Oliver Searles as head of energy and Jamie Graham as head of cargo. Dawson joined the firm in 2022 after more than a decade at WTW, while Puskar has been with the company for seven years following stints at Genworth Financial and HSBC.
Searles and Graham both arrived in 2024 from Marsh and Amwins, respectively.
The promotions come amid a period of aggressive expansion. Group gross written premium climbed 29% to US$4.6 billion in 2024, up from US$3.6 billion the year before, as the firm broadened its reach across more than 100 lines of business.
EO Richard Brindle has described the company as building "the largest and most diversified independent MGU globally."
TFP also elevated several underwriters further down its ranks. Alex Burness was named senior underwriter in the property D&F team, while Alex Weiss Bueno takes on the deputy head role in asset backed finance and portfolio credit, a line that helped drive 13.8% gross premium growth for Fidelis Insurance Group in the first quarter of 2025.
Perhaps the most significant of the non-headline appointments is that of Bernard Straeter, a senior credit portfolio underwriter who will become deputy active underwriter for Syndicate 2126.
The syndicate, announced last October in partnership with funds managed by Blackstone, is targeting roughly US$300 million in GWP for 2026 and will write across property, specialty and bespoke lines. Straeter will serve alongside active underwriter Peter Welton.
Combined with TFP's existing Syndicate 3123, which is expected to write approximately US$1 billion this year, the firm's total Lloyd's capacity is set to exceed US$1.3 billion. Brindle said last year that TFP would become "one of the largest players in Lloyd's from a standing start circa 18 months ago."
Daniel Turner was promoted to senior underwriter in TFP's construction and renewable energy team, and Liva Petersone was elevated to the same rank in the Dublin office.
The latest round follows a similar wave of promotions in September 2025, when TFP elevated members of its Bermuda treaty team including Paget Hengesbaugh as head of international treaty, Mark Herget as deputy group head of property, energy and construction, and Dennis Brauchle as head of property treaty and portfolio analytics.
Michael Davern, UK chief underwriting officer and group head of D&F property and energy, said the appointments reflect the firm's growth across its specialty classes.
"Our reputation for underwriting leadership is testament to both the strength and the speed of the creative, high-conviction decisions that our underwriters make for clients all day, every day, around the globe," he said, adding that it "gives me great pleasure that we are a business that rewards achievements with recognition, progression and responsibility."
