WTW has hired Claudia Rost in a new role focused on serving the booming private credit market.

As head of alternative credit insurance, Rost is tasked with originating and structuring credit insurance for alternative and private financiers.

The private credit market was estimated to be worth US$2.1tn last year and is favoured by mid-sized firms or those seen as too risky for big banks.

Rost’s role also includes developing the underwriting market for structured finance solutions for financial, corporate and trading clients, and advising on complex transactions across WTW’s financial solutions division.

She is based in New York and reports to Evan Freely, global head of WTW financial solutions.

“As our clients increasingly seek cover on a wider range of transaction structures and asset classes, it is essential to invest in industry specialists with diverse skills,” says Freely. “Claudia’s extensive banking experience will significantly enhance the service we offer to our clients as we work on their behalf to place credit insurance on complex and highly structured transactions.”

Rost joins the broker following a career in banking. She spent most of her career at Commerzbank, rising to managing director, credit portfolio management.

In 2016 she moved to SMBC as head of portfolio management in the lender’s Americas division. She left the bank at the end of last year.