Ascot, the Bermudian-based insurer and reinsurer, has appointed Eric Herman to the position of group head of underwriting performance management.

Mr Herman joins from Everest, where he spent nearly a decade in senior corporate underwriting and business performance roles, most recently serving as chief underwriting officer, North America.

In this newly created role, the company said he will work closely across functions to optimise Ascot’s business portfolio and analyse market intelligence, trends and data to identify new opportunities for growth and innovation, execute on the company’s strategic and financial objectives, and provide guidance to optimise the allocation of group capital.

Mr Herman will be based in the company’s Iselin, New Jersey office, dual reporting to Elizabeth Johnson, group chief operating officer, and Mark Pepper, group chief underwriting officer.

Ms Johnson said: “Eric is a strategic thinker with decades of portfolio management, analytics and risk assessment experience.

“He has a proven track record of leading high-performing teams and facilitating cross-functional collaboration that will drive underwriting performance and optimise our opportunities across the global Ascot ecosystem.”

Mr Pepper added: “Our talented underwriting and leadership teams across the globe will benefit greatly from Eric’s extensive industry background and acute ability to distil complex issues and large data sets into strategic guidance to improve our business outcomes.

“I look forward to working closely with Eric as we continue to find ways to diversify and optimise our specialty portfolio to best serve the needs of our unique clients.”