IAT Re execs Mattox and Baker leave

IAT Reinsurance Company managing directors Peter Mattox and Steven Baker have both left the assumed reinsurance arm of the US specialty insurer, The Insurer can reveal.

Mattox (pictured) had been with the Raleigh, North Carolina-based IAT Insurance Group subsidiary for more than 17 years and was most recently managing director and senior vice president.

Based out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois he worked across the carrier’s property, liability, specialty, mortgage reinsurance and surety lines writing excess of loss and proportional treaty structures, including structuring deals for Lloyd’s syndicates, captives, risk retention groups and MGAs.

The executive was also previously responsible for the dealership insurance operations at subsidiary Harco National Insurance Company with a focus on the transportation industry.

Mattox joined IAT Re in 2002 from Overseas Partners and was previously at CNA Re.

Baker was also managing director and SVP of assumed reinsurance and joined IAT Re as a treaty underwriter in 2005 from Hartford Steam Boiler, where he had been client company manager. 

He worked with Mattox at CNA Re. It is not known if Mattox and Baker have new roles lined up.

The two long-standing IAT Re executives are understood to have reported to Donna McDermott, who was drafted in as SVP and head of assumed reinsurance at the company from Aspen Re in August 2018 and is based in Connecticut.

She had been head of national accounts treaty North America at Bermudian Aspen’s US platform, and spent almost ten years at the company in a number of executive roles including head of specialty casualty treaty and facultative, after joining from XL Re in 2008.

McDermott replaced IAT Re head Jim Miller, who officially retired last March around the same time as another long-serving executive at the firm, Tim Madden. Miller had been with IAT Re since 2001.

At the time of the management changes, IAT Re said that Miller and his team had built a “successful assumed reinsurance business that has met or exceeded target returns each and every year”.

Contribution to parent

The company added that at that point it had a $350mn book of net written premium that contributed 30 percent of operating income for its parent, IAT Insurance Group.

Privately-held IAT Insurance Group is rated A- by AM Best and underwrites through six business units including its assumed reinsurance arm IAT Re.

The other business units are commercial transportation, specialty, programs, inland marine and surplus lines excess.

The carrier is led by Bill Cunningham as CEO, with other key executives including president Stephen Stephano and CUO of programs Steve Assennata, who joined from Munich Re last year.

IAT Insurance Group wrote $1.41bn of direct premiums last year with a combined ratio of 103.9 percent, up from $1.33bn and 100.8 percent respectively in 2018.

It ended the year with $812.0mn of policyholders surplus.

IAT Insurance Group did not respond to a request for comment on this article.