By Jonathan Kent

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd chief executive officer Chris O’Kane has this month sold more than 26,000 shares — worth around $1.15 million — of the company he runs.

Mr O’Kane exercised options to buy the shares in the Bermuda-based re/insurer and then sold them immediately at a profit of more than $480,000.

The transactions took place on two separate days, according to insider trade records on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange website.

Last Friday, Mr O’Kane exercised options entitling him to buy 23,603 shares at $24.44 each. He sold them on the same day for an average of $42.92, for a total of $1,013,040, giving him a profit of $436,182.

This followed a similar trade 11 days earlier, on December 8, in which he executed options to buy 2,574 shares at $27.28 and then sold them for $45, for a total of $115,830. This transaction left him with a profit of $45,611.

Earlier this year, Aspen was the target of a takeover bid by Bermuda rival Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd, whose unsuccessful offer eventually reached $49.60 per share — well above the selling price Mr O’Kane accepted for his shares this month.

According to Nasdaq, Mr O’ Kane’s holding in Aspen amounts to 189,311 shares, worth around $8.4 million at yesterday’s closing trading price of $44.44.