James A. Damonte

As President of Insurance Operations and CUO, Jim’s people-first approach to building a successful underwriting firm pervades throughout Upland Capital.

While most recently a Senior Managing Director at Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions Division, Jim spent the bulk of his career in executive leadership roles at Hallmark Financial Services and predecessor companies. There he was President of Hallmark E&S and Chairman of the Group Underwriting Committee. He also held underwriting leadership roles in Primary & Excess Casualty, Professional Liability, Aviation, and Programs. Prior to that, Jim helped build the underwriting portfolio and operations as Vice President of Underwriting, and Executive Vice President of the Health XS, LLC, until it was bought by Hallmark.

Jim began his insurance career as a facultative underwriter for General Reinsurance Corporation in 2000 and was responsible for a portion of the Western United States handling both individual risk and program reinsurance.

Jim graduated from the University of Nevada with BS in Business Administration and went on to graduate studies at SMU’s Cox School of Business, and UVA’s Darden School of Business, NAPSLO Executive Leadership Program. He is an active participant and committee member in multiple surplus lines organizations including the Texas Surplus Lines Association and Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association and maintains licensing in all U.S. jurisdictions.