Ep 81 Ash Bathia CEO Probitas 1492: Driving your own destiny

Today’s guest is someone I have known for almost 30 years. That’s
because I used to broker business to him back in the 1990s when I
was working in the London Market. Back then he was making a name
for himself as a lead market in the international casualty class
at UK composite Eagle Star. As my career changed completely his
took off and at QBE Europe he swiftly rose the ranks to become
its most senior underwriting executive. Then eight years ago he
left to pursue the dream of founding a Lloyd’s business of his
own. Anyone who met Ash Bathia CEO of Probitas 1492 thirty years
ago will have marked out as someone with the ambition and drive
to make a real impact on the market. And as it turned out Ash was
going to need all of that drive and a lot more. Probitas had as
tough a start in life as it is possible to have. Born right at
the nadir of one of the longest soft markets in history, Probitas
was hit hard by the unexpected loss of its cornerstone capital
provider and extremely challenging early underwriting numbers in
its ramp-up years. Almost all of its peers folded or were
actively shuttered by Lloyd’s itself in its recent remediation
phase. But today Probitas is a top Lloyd’s performer and is
pre-empting capacity and scaling up as market conditions continue
to turn in its favour. Interviewing Ash was just like broking to
him all those years ago. He hasn’t changed much. He is still
smart, sharp and direct with great charm. And he is a great
trader, problem-solver and dealmaker in the classic Lloyd’s
entrepreneurial tradition. The difference is that to those skills
you can now add maturity, humility and the wisdom that comes from
starting and running a business of his own. These days Ash has
one hell of a story to tell. I’m just grateful that he let me be
the first to get it out of him.


LINKS


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