Applied hires Black to lead middle market E&S expansion

Applied Underwriters has appointed John Black as executive vice president of its newly expanded specialty division, with the new hire focusing on middle market E&S casualty risks.

Black, who will work from Applied Specialty’s New York office, has more than 35 years of experience, most recently as a P&C consultant.

From 2017 to 2018 he was chief underwriting officer of CM Vantage Specialty, an E&S insurer which he co-founded in 2015. He also worked as senior product manager for liability at QBE Insurance and has also held roles at Capitol Insurance Companies, Crum & Forster and USF&G.

Applied Specialty said it has begun to engage an increasing number of wholesalers who will work with independent agents and brokers to provide the company’s products and services to businesses. Primary and excess property are planned for introduction in 2021.

“We have seen Applied Specialty take off handsomely, as the current market’s appetite for expertise and depth in this sector grows aggressively,” said Steve Menzies, CEO of Applied Underwriters.

As revealed by this publication, Applied Specialty was launched in November 2020 to focus on select casualty E&S risks across the US, with an initial focus on large construction in New York.

Christopher Day was named president of the new company, with general liability, excess liability and workers’ compensation for New York construction as its initial offerings.

The launch of Applied Specialty was part of an expansion by Applied Underwriters following its buyout from Berkshire Hathaway by CEO Menzies in a transaction that closed in October 2019.

Applied Underwriters in December 2020 announced the hires of Ron Fiamma, Rand Silver and Christopher Walsh from AIG to build out its newly formed Applied Fine Art & Collectibles unit.

The same month this publication revealed that Applied Underwriters had launched a US D&O underwriting unit with the hire of Validus Specialty CUO Stephen McGill.