(NEW YORK) – Berkley Asset Protection (BAP), a Berkley company, is celebrating its 15th year of business offering a high quality suite of insurance products designed to protect jewelry, fine art and other high-value, personal and commercial assets.
Berkley Asset Protection was founded in 2008 with Joseph “Chip” Dowd as President, Gregory J. Smith as Executive Vice President and Nicholas Reynolds as Senior Vice President to address a need in the insurance market for specialty coverage in fine art and jewelry. Since its inception, BAP has grown to become a leader in the space through high level knowledge, service and an established distribution network of retail and wholesale insurance professionals. BAP’s brokers and agents cater to a global base of clients in a variety of environments. These include private and corporate art collections, museums, galleries, and exhibitions, jewelry wholesalers, retailers, and manufacturers, and those who work with collectibles, currencies, securities, and other high-value assets. BAP has expanded globally, now underwriting in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Continental Europe, the U.K. and Latin America operating with local entities.
“We had this idea of starting an insurance business specializing in the areas we love. We knew immediately that Berkley was where we wanted to be,” says Smith. “Our journey began humbly from a one room office. To see the level at which we have been able to grow in the last 15 years, as a team and as a business, is such an honor and reward and I am so excited to see where the next 15 years will take us.”
In 2017, BAP introduced Lavalier personal jewelry insurance, offering quick and affordable direct-to-consumer jewelry coverage. Lavalier has since made significant technological advances, launching a new platform to serve as a one-stop portal that allows customers to manage their own policies easily. 2022 saw monumental developments when Lavalier became the official insurance partner of Signet.
“This is an incredibly profound milestone,” says Dowd. “Berkley Asset Protection was started to fulfill a need in the marketplace by offering the best in underwriting and claims expertise, and we have remained committed to our purpose. We take our professional relationships very seriously and look for ways to evolve with the changing marketplace and overall landscape, such as the development of an online platform and new product offerings, to support our partners and expand opportunity. Thank you to our team, our brokers, our industry partners and everyone who has taken this journey with us and propelled our growth. We look forward to many more years of success together.”
Learn more about Berkley Asset Protection at BerkleyAssetPro.com.
