Specialty insurer Beazley has named Sundeep Khera (pictured above) as its new head of marine in a hire that comes as the firm pushes deeper into war-risk underwriting and prepares its marine insurance book for shifts in shipping technology and the energy transition.
Khera will sit within Beazley's Marine, Accident & Political (MAP) Risks division, overseeing the marine, energy, aviation and space teams, and will report to group head of MAP Risks Tim Turner.
He brings three decades in the marine sector and is a familiar figure in the London market, joining from AXA XL, where he was global chief underwriting officer for marine hull and war and head of marine and energy for the UK and Lloyd's.
During his time at AXA XL, he oversaw the rollout of what the firm has called the market's first carbon credit solution for marine hull.
Khera's career began outside insurance, with senior roles at Emirates Shipping Line covering shipping operations, stowage planning, commercial functions and general management. He is also a qualified Master Mariner.
"Beazley has long been a leader in the marine insurance market," Turner said, adding that Khera's experience spans major offshore energy projects through to emerging areas such as nuclear-powered vessels, "exactly the leadership we need to continue growing our marine and transition offering."
Khera takes on the role as Beazley scales up. The insurer's interim 2025 disclosure shows marine generated US$282.7 million of gross premium within MAP, the largest single line in the division.
Full-year 2025 results, published earlier this year, put group insurance written premiums at US$6.3 billion on an undiscounted combined ratio of 81%.
Chief executive Adrian Cox has signalled that 2026 is opening with continued rate softening across several lines. In a separate move announced in March, Beazley said it intends to redomicile its parent company to Bermuda.
The appointment also lands as Beazley moves to expand its war-risk capabilities, with a new Lloyd's marine war consortium in the works that would offer up to US$1 billion in additional capacity for transits through the Strait of Hormuz, split evenly between hull war and cargo war.
The repricing in the chokepoint has been sharp. Research from S&P Global Market Intelligence puts Hormuz hull war rates at around 0.125% of vessel value before the late-February escalation.
Marsh's UK war leader has said post-strike pricing climbed as high as 10%, before easing back towards 5%.
The World Economic Forum estimates the strait normally carries about a fifth of global oil and a fifth of LNG trade, helping explain why shipowners and cargo interests are pressing for fresh capacity, and why Beazley is moving to supply it.
