Former AmTrust underwriter Tom White has joined the specialty division of MGA incubator Castel to launch a political risk portfolio.

Led by White, Castel Political Risk will chiefly underwrite contract frustration and political risk coverages, typically focusing on business in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

White was previously a senior underwriter at ANV (now AmTrust) where he helped to establish its political risk account in 2013. Before that, he was a political risk underwriter at Liberty Syndicates. He began his career at Willis Towers Watson in 2001 as a broker within the firm’s political risk team.

The move forms part of Castel’s efforts to expand its “club-style” MGA formation platform which is aimed to enabling individual underwriters within niche markets to run their own portfolios.

Castel chief executive Mark Birrell said: “Tom has both broking and underwriting expertise in this niche class. This experience, combined with our dedicated infrastructure support, will enable him to access the specialist brokers and markets required to build a strong-performing book of business.”

White commented: “Castel Specialty has proven experience in launching and developing niche businesses. Their approach means underwriters can focus on underwriting whilst Castel takes care of all key operational aspects such as capacity provision and business support services.”