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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
100 Federal Street
20th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY EXPANDS
INTO AUSTRALIA, NAMES CHRIS COLAHAN AS PRESIDENT, AUSTRALASIA
BOSTON, MA, April 26, 2015 -- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) today announced that it has
received its insurance license to provide all lines of General Business in Australia, established operations in Sydney, and named
Chris Colahan as President of its Australasia Region.
"BHSI is committed to expanding into geographic markets and lines of business where we can provide financially strong,
highly responsive underwriting solutions and market leading service. Our move into Australia reflects this strategy. Under Chris’
leadership, we’ve already built a stellar underwriting, claims, and functional team to serve the needs of the Australian market,”
said Peter Eastwood, President of BHSI.
Beginning immediately, BHSI will be providing property, casualty, financial lines and marine cargo insurance in Australia.
Chris joins BHSI from RSA Insurance Group, where he was most recently Chief Executive Officer, Asia, and before that, Chief
Executive Officer, Hong Kong. He was also previously Country Manager, Singapore Retail, and Regional Manager, Strategy and
Change, Asia and the Middle East, at RSA. He began his career in Australia at Westpac Banking Corporation.
Chris graduated from Australia's Bond University with both bachelor's of Law (Honors) and bachelor's of Commerce degrees.
"It is exciting for me both personally and professionally to bring the trusted Berkshire Hathaway brand to my home country and
to the Australian insurance marketplace," said Chris. "BHSI enters the market with financially strong capacity and a commitment
to serving this market for decades to come."
Along with Chris, BHSI's leadership team in Sydney includes:
• Frank Costigan, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Australasia
• Cameron McLisky, Head of Executive and Professional Lines, Australasia
• Anne O'Keefe, Head of Human Resources, Australasia
• Susan Donaldson, Head of Claims, Australia
• Andrew Spurr, Head of Casualty, Australia
• Craig Taylor, Head of Property, Australia
• Matthew Clarke, Manager of Professional Indemnity Lines, Australia
• Daniel Cole, Manager, Mining, Energy and Power, Australia
• Mark Dixon, Manager, Marine Insurance, Australia
• Ryan Thomas, Manager, D&O Liability Insurance, Australia
In addition to its Australian platform, BHSI has established operations in the United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong
with underwriting and service teams in each market. BHSI also is currently pursuing its insurance license in New Zealand.
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (www.bhspecialty.com) provides commercial property, casualty, healthcare professional liability,
executive and professional lines, surety, travel, programs, and homeowners insurance. It underwrites on the paper of Berkshire Hathaway's
National Indemnity group of insurance companies, which hold financial strength ratings of A++ from AM Best and AA+ from Standard
& Poor's. Based in Boston, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los
Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Ramon, Stevens Point, Toronto, Auckland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, contact Chris Colahan at +61 2 8002 2101 or [email protected].
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CONTACT
JoAnn Lee / 617-936-2937