Bermuda-based specialty insurer Torus Insurance Holdings Ltd. has set up a managing general agency for its UK excess and surplus lines unit Torus Insurance (UK) Ltd.

Torus (Bermuda) Services Ltd. will be led by senior vice-president Lane Schaffer, who was recruited from American International Group.

At AIG, Mr. Schaffer led the operations and strategic direction of a department charged with securing new and renewal business for Fortune 2000 accounts.

Torus said Mr. Schaffer will report to Torus president and chief underwriting officer of global casualty David Perez.

"The MGA will develop and promote new casualty products for the local market and provide increased flexibility for clients and brokers when placing casualty business with its Bermuda underwriting platform, as they can now access either Torus Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd or its excess and surplus lines eligible UK insurer, Torus Insurance (UK) Ltd., from a single location," the company explained.

Mr. Perez said: "The ability to design flexible products that respond to the individual needs of our clients while at the same time expanding our worldwide platform is a key strategic objective for Torus. The launch of Torus (Bermuda) Services Ltd. is a significant step in the execution of our business plan."

Torus also announced it has appointed Mark St. Aoro to the newly created position of global casualty product line executive. Mr. St. Aoro will be responsible for ensuring underwriting consistency and quality across the Torus casualty platforms worldwide, overseeing the development of new products and IT infrastructure, and maintaining all internal and regulatory compliance standards, Torus said.

He joins Torus from CV Starr & Company where he was most recently responsible for the development of new product initiatives. Prior to CV Starr, he worked at Great American, Torus said.