Dickson and Morse join OAK Re amid post-1/1 expansion

OAK Reinsurance has added several new team members as the firm builds momentum after a successful underwriting launch at 1 January 2025.

The reinsurance start-up, which now numbers nearly 40 employees, said the appointments reflect continued growth following its expanded business plan approval at Lloyd’s in April.

Tom Dickson (pictured) is joining as president, innovation strategies, subject to UK visa approval. He was previously chief executive of New Energy Risk.

Roland Morse will become managing director, London. He is moving from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.

Karen Barker, most recently senior underwriter at Axis Capital, joins OAK Re as credit underwriter. She will lead underwriting for credit classes at the firm.

Deepon Sen Gupta has been named head of capital partnerships. His previous roles include group chief strategy officer at Neon and founding board member of Beat Capital.

Cathal Carr, chief executive and founder of OAK Re, said: “The development of OAK Re since we began underwriting has been exceptional, getting off to a fantastic start at 1/1 and continuing with Lloyd’s approval for an expanded business plan in April.”

He added: “The strong reputation that we have already established for extensive underwriting expertise combined with science and data-driven analytics is underscored by the calibre of new team members joining us.

“We look forward to benefitting from the experience and knowledge that our new colleagues bring to OAK Re.”