Jean-Bernard Wurm is a Founder & Managing Director of Secure Legal Title Ltd., a provider of title insurance and legal indemnities headquartered in London. He is based in Geneva.
He has extensive experience in the European and US property markets as a real estate investment banker and private equity investor, For the past six years, he has also been responsible for the European sales operations of the largest U.S. title insurance companies.
Jean-Bernard Wurm launched LandAmerica’s title insurance (later Fidelity Title) in Europe, bringing it from a virtually unknown product to where it is now considered an important financial instrument for mitigating legal risks in cross-border property acquisitions and financing.
He opened offices and managed the underwriting and sourcing of insured deals in most of Western Europe and CEE countries. This included Terra Firma’s €5.4 billion German securitization―the largest European CMBS transaction ever.
Jean-Bernard Wurm’s background combines commercial and investment banking both in the US and Europe, with JP Morgan Paris, Frankfurt, and New York, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank and HVB Capital in New York.
He was then Partner & Managing Director of Jargonnant Partners, a Luxembourg-based European real estate opportunity fund.
He graduated with honors from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences-Po), Paris and also holds degrees in Economic Sciences from the Sorbonne, and German Studies from the Université de Paris. He is fluent in French, English, German, and proficient in Italian.
About Secure Legal Title Ltd. (SLT)
Secure Legal Title Ltd. is a recently-launched European title insurance and legal indemnity provider for real estate acquisitions and financing. The company is headquartered in London, with offices in Geneva and New York.
Title insurance mitigates the legal risks of property investment, mortgage finance and syndication in Europe, including CEE. European real estate markets have become increasingly risk-averse and are now far more receptive to insurance products which diminish risk and enhance marketability of properties and mortgages. In the US, title insurance represents a $15B market.
Investors / owners are insured that property is free and clear of liens and encumbrances—both known and unknown—and are covered against title defects. Lenders are insured that the mortgage is properly recorded, valid with the correct priority and enforceable.
Policies indemnify the policyholder against losses resulting from third-party title, lien and other claims against the property or from mortgage defects. Unlike other forms of insurance, title risks are individually underwritten based on a legal opinion of expert local counsel and, therefore, premium rates are based on an analysis of the perceived risk of the particular transaction, rather than on an actuarial assumption.