NextEra’s Palms build-out continues with Aspen, Axa XL and Tower Hill hires

NextEra Energy’s Palms Insurance Company has continued to build out its roster with two further hires from Aspen along with senior recruits from Tower Hill Insurance and Axa XL in recent months, The Insurer has learned.

Megan Foster and Pamela Robberson have both joined the expansive Palms platform from Aspen in recent weeks, the former as a senior underwriter and the latter as manager, insurance operations, this publication understands.

Foster has joined Palms having most recently served Aspen as a finpro underwriter. During her five years at Aspen, Foster spent some time as an energy and construction underwriter while she also served as a natural catastrophe analyst.

Her career also includes time spent at Liberty International Underwriters.

At Aspen, Robberson most recently served as an underwriter assistant supervisor, with a focus on the US energy, construction and property markets.

Robberson’s career also includes time at Amwins, Impact Risk Solutions, Arthur J Gallagher and Marsh, according to her LinkedIn profile.

As The Insurer reported in March, NextEra has already hired former Aspen executives Tim Kania and Daniel Murphy as director of underwriting and underwriting manager respectively to spearhead Palms’ transition from a captive insurer for the Juno Beach, Florida-headquartered US utility giant to one that also writes third-party business.

Since then, and as this publication reported in May, AM Best A rated Palms has also recruited Robert Rokicki, another Aspen alumnus, as director of insurance operations. Rokicki had been head of energy and construction for the Americas at Aspen.

Last month also saw Palms recruit Christopher King as controller. King had previously served as group controller and vice president of finance at Florida-focused residential property insurer Tower Hill.

King first joined Tower Hill in 2018, prior to which he spent close to 15 years at PwC.

Palms has also recruited Paul Rowe, the former head of lawyers’ and accountants’ professional liability at Axa XL. At the expansive Palms, Rowe has been appointed senior director of underwriting, with the executive also understood to be overseeing the platform’s professional liability book.

He joined Palms in August, according to his LinkedIn profile, having previously spent some 21 years at Axa XL and its predecessor companies.

The hires are the latest appointments Palms has made as it transitions into a writer of third-party business.

This publication had revealed in March that NextEra had been developing a surplus lines insurance operation to write third-party business.

To do so, NextEra has repurposed its captive Palms so that the platform not only underwrites coverage for the US utility giant, but also that of non-affiliated entities. According to AM Best, Palms began offering coverage to third parties in January, although sources said the amount of business written so far has been limited.

Aside from the roles the former Aspen staff have filled, NextEra has also been recruiting for other positions within its insurance business. For example, NextEra is currently looking to hire a manager of strategic initiatives to support the build-out of Palms.

At the time of publication, NextEra had not responded to a request for comment.