Asta, the third-party administrator of Lloyd’s of Davis, has announced a number of senior leadership promotions, including the promotion of David Hopkins to chief underwriting officer (CUO), who has been the company’s deputy CUO since August 2024.
Hopkins has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience, including four years with Westfield Specialty International, most recently as director of underwriting performance management. He has also held leadership positions at Argo Group, Axis Capital and Antares Management Agency.
Asta has promoted Clare Barley to managing director, where she will provide more direct support to the CEO in managing Asta’s day-to-day operations. Her responsibilities include managing key stakeholder relationships and helping to develop, communicate and execute strategic priorities. Barley will retain responsibility for culture and human resources.
Barley has been with Asta for 11 years, most recently as chief operating officer. Earlier in her career, she held actuarial consulting roles at Mercer and Lane Clark & Peacock.
Leslie Edmonds has been promoted to chief operating officer, taking over Asta’s operations and IT functions from Barley. She also became part of the executive team, an AMA board member and Asta’s SMF24.
Edmonds has over 25 years of insurance experience in the Lloyd’s and corporate markets. She has been operations director at Asta for the past five years, having previously held roles at Lloyd’s and Allianz.
Laura McMaster will take on the newly created role of Chief Experience Officer, focusing on providing strategic support and advice to Asta’s group customers as they move through various stages of development. In this role, she will also ensure that the oversight framework remains robust and effective. In addition to retaining actuarial and risk management reporting lines, client management will report to McMaster.
McMaster has worked at Asta for the past eight years, most recently as chief actuary. Previously, she was a partner at Lane Clark & Peacock.
Ben Carter and Phil White have been promoted to chief actuary. They are each responsible for a syndicated portfolio and Asta will seek regulatory approval for both parties to assume SMF20 functions for their respective portfolios.
Carter has been with Asta for 12 years, while White has been with the company for seven years, most recently as deputy chief actuary.
Asta said the promotion reflects its continued growth and commitment to building strong relationships with customers and stakeholders, improving the value delivered to Asta-managed businesses and further strengthening its customer partnership model.
Lorraine Harfitt, CEO of Asta, said: “We are delighted to recognize the talent at Asta and be able to support the career development of our team. These appointments will not only support succession planning but will also ensure that leadership is given sufficient focus and time to not only sustain but continue to grow the great business we have. I wish them all the best in their new roles and look forward to working closely with them.”
