This week’s appointments cover transactional risk broking, political violence underwriting, new property capacity from an MGA, and the completion of an underwriting leadership team.
HDI Global UK and Ireland has appointed Ashwin Kapoor as head of political violence and terrorism, and Tom Brown (pictured, left) as underwriting manager, both from 1 December. Both join from Aviva, where Kapoor led political violence and terrorism and Brown was underwriting manager. Kapoor previously worked at Chubb and Marsh, and Brown at Chubb and Allianz.
The team will sit within HDI’s crisis management division, alongside product recall and kidnap and ransom.
“Expanding our Political Violence and Terrorism team is an important step in delivering our Xcelerate29 strategy,” said Simon Hunt, chief executive of HDI Global UK and Ireland.
Political violence demand is rising with geopolitical tension. Crux also hired a political violence and terrorism chief executive last month. More capacity and experienced underwriters give brokers more options for placing these risks.
Specialty MGA HIVE Underwriters has appointed Ed Wiley (pictured, centre) as class underwriter for property direct and facultative (D&F). He joins from Sompo, where he was head of international property, and has more than 20 years’ experience. Wiley will work with Richard Brown, recently appointed to build HIVE’s global property D&F business.
A new property D&F market adds capacity, but it also adds competition in a softening property market, where new entrants tend to compete hard to build a book.
Folgate Underwriting Agency (FUAL) has appointed Simon Bell (pictured, right) as chief underwriting officer for commercial and mid-market, completing its underwriting leadership across four business pillars. Bell spent more than 15 years at Touchstone Underwriting, most recently as lead underwriter for property and commercial, leading a team of around 12.
Group chief executive Ian Russell said the appointment was the culmination of a long-term strategy since the sale of the business’s insurance company.
A complete underwriting leadership team should give regional brokers clearer appetite and decision-making for commercial and mid-market risks.
Gallagher has appointed Alex Peake as head of warranty and indemnity (W&I) for the UK and Ireland, within its private equity and M&A practice. Peake joins from WTW, where he was a director in the M&A transactional risks team, and has a decade of experience in transactional risk insurance.
Gallagher has also hired Sean Grogan as a director, from a background in transaction services at PwC and Deloitte, and moved Emily Sawyer and Max Marshall into the practice from other roles. The hires follow appointments in Germany, Italy, the Nordics and France this year.
Steve Jones, chief executive of private equity and M&A solutions for the UK and Ireland, said demand for insurance-backed risk transfer in M&A was growing.
Transactional risk is becoming more competitive, with new capacity such as Optio’s recently launched Amsterdam W&I MGA. Gallagher’s build-out across Europe gives deal teams another broker with in-country expertise.
Italian telematics firm Targa Telematics has appointed Marco Amendolagine (pictured immediately above) as head of business development for insurance, with a remit to grow its insurance partnerships in Italy and internationally. He brings 18 years of experience across insurtech, telematics and digital innovation.
Targa’s platform aggregates vehicle data - location, driving behaviour, mileage and incident detection - and packages it for insurers writing commercial motor and fleet business. For brokers, the relevance is indirect but real: as more insurers use telematics data to price and underwrite fleet risks, clients that can demonstrate better driving behaviour through connected vehicles have more leverage at renewal. Brokers placing commercial motor portfolios should understand which of their insurer markets are actively using telematics inputs, and whether clients’ fleets are generating the kind of data that supports a stronger risk profile.
London-based personal and commercial lines broker AF Insurance has joined the Coversure Network, part of the Jensten Group.
Founded in 2021, AF Insurance serves private individuals, high-net-worth clients and businesses across the UK. Led by 28-year-old director James Walsh, with private client manager Ollie Thornton and junior account handler Sam Walsh, it specialises in high-net-worth property, prestige vehicles, jewellery and fine art, commercial and investment property portfolios, and specialist protection for professional sportspeople.
“We’ve got ambitious plans for the business and wanted to partner with a network that would support those ambitions while allowing us to maintain the approach that’s helped us build strong client relationships,” said Walsh.
Jordan Maskell, Coversure Network director, said the team had already built something impressive, and that Coversure was delighted to support its growth.
The move reflects the appeal of networks to young brokers. Joining a network gives a small firm access to insurer agencies, compliance support and technology while keeping its own identity, a route alongside the start-up guidance recently launched by BIBA and Intact.
