Miller has appointed Harry Vickers (pictured, left) as senior director, property, for Miller Bermuda, joining from Gallagher.
Vickers will lead Miller's Bermuda direct and facultative offering, working alongside London teams to broaden the property solutions available to international clients, with further insurance lines planned for the Bermuda platform through 2026 and beyond.
Brokers placing large or complex property risks internationally often need access to both London and Bermuda capacity to build a full programme, and a senior hire specifically tasked with connecting those two markets under one wholesale broker gives brokers a clearer single point of contact rather than having to coordinate separately across regions.
David Porter, head of insurance at Miller Bermuda, said the appointment reflects the firm's commitment to delivering compelling options for clients with a clear focus on large and complex risks that demand combined London and Bermuda expertise, precisely the placement dynamic brokers in this space navigate regularly.
Hampden Risk Partners' (HRP) Syndicate 2689 at Lloyd's has appointed James Drew (pictured, centre) as senior underwriter, adding capability across proportional business classes for top-quartile Lloyd's syndicates, alongside a selective appetite for MGA and company market opportunities.
HRP's model, following capacity from outperforming Lloyd's syndicates on a consortium and quota share basis, does not put brokers in direct contact with HRP the way a lead underwriter would, but it matters to the wider capacity pool brokers draw on.
The syndicate's first full year under this "intelligent follow" approach produced an 84.1% net combined ratio against a planned 94.5%, meaning capacity built this way has actually performed well, which is relevant context for brokers assessing the durability of follow capacity generally in a market where some follow arrangements have proven less disciplined. Adding underwriting depth in this area supports the syndicate's ability to keep participating reliably across the classes brokers are placing.
Brecon Specialty, the London cyber and technology E&O broker launched by Sodalis Capital in March 2026, has appointed Will Gow (pictured, right) as global head of claims and coverage.
A dual-qualified solicitor and loss adjuster, Gow joins from Crawford & Company, where he was UK head of cyber and technology risks, having previously held cyber claims roles at QuestGates and ASL.
According to IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average breach cost at a record $4.99 million, while Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found ransomware present in 44% of all breaches, meaning brokers' clients are facing genuinely severe, complex incidents more often. Gow's dual solicitor-and-loss-adjuster qualification matters specifically because coverage disputes on cyber claims frequently turn on legal interpretation as much as technical loss assessment, so brokers placing cyber business with Brecon gain a claims lead capable of engaging with both dimensions rather than needing to bring in separate legal support after a dispute arises.
Willis Networks, a WTW business, has appointed Lynne Norledge (pictured immediately above) as managing director and Mark Cobham as deputy managing director.
Norledge, who joined WTW in 2017 before moving into Willis Networks specifically in January 2019 as head of sales, has more than 40 years of broking experience, including senior roles at Marsh, Aon and HSBC Insurance Brokers. She most recently served as commercial director, leading the network's insurer relationship strategy, and succeeds John Read, who has stepped down as managing director.
Cobham has spent 30 years with the business, most recently as networks services director overseeing service delivery.
Norledge's background is in the commercial and insurer-relationship side of the network rather than an external hire, which suggests continuity in how insurer partnerships are managed rather than a strategic reset.
For network members, the more practical detail is Cobham's promotion -- 30 years focused on service delivery gives independent brokers a clear, experienced point of continuity on the operational side, which tends to matter more day-to-day than leadership changes at the top. Philippa Cartmell, senior managing director for GB retail, said Norledge's experience within the network combined with her broader industry background gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing independent brokers.
Pinion Insurance, the London-headquartered, Bermuda-incorporated specialty carrier that began operations in February 2026 with up to $180 million in backing from Barings, has added three senior finance hires reporting to group chief financial officer Chris Jones.
Kathryn Edwards joins as group controller from Lloyd's of London, where she served as chief accountant overseeing external reporting, financial control and capital management across the Lloyd's Corporation and market. Brock Werner joins as US treasurer and financial planning and analysis lead from Old Republic International, having built accounting frameworks for six new operating subsidiaries there. James Green, a chartered accountant specialising in finance automation, joins from Great Lakes Insurance.
Pinion positions itself as a capacity provider partnering with MGAs, so brokers placing business through an MGA backed by Pinion aren't dealing with this finance team directly, but its strength matters indirectly through capacity stability. A specialty carrier's finance and reporting infrastructure, particularly around capital management and financial planning, is part of what underpins its ability to maintain consistent capacity and pay claims reliably as it scales.
Edwards' background overseeing capital management at Lloyd's specifically is a meaningful signal here, since it suggests financial discipline appropriate to a young carrier still proving itself to MGA partners and, ultimately, the brokers placing business on their behalf.
QuestGates has appointed Stephen Ford as head of client and operational reporting, following a 24-year career at Sedgwick where he helped shape strategic data delivery across 19 territories worldwide. Ford will partner with technology director Steve Holland to lead the team producing client and operational data insights.
As a claims and loss adjusting provider rather than an insurer, QuestGates' relationship with brokers runs largely through the quality and transparency of claims data it can provide to insurer and broker clients monitoring their books. Better client reporting capability translates fairly directly into brokers getting clearer, more timely visibility into how claims on their placed business are actually progressing, which matters for renewal conversations and for spotting adverse claims trends before they become a bigger problem at renewal.
Colin Ganson, chief operating officer at QuestGates, said Ford's depth of knowledge in client data and business intelligence delivery is exactly what the business needs as it raises its service standards.
Clearwater Underwriting, the marine-focused specialty underwriter, has appointed Tim Strong (pictured immediately above) as managing director, crisis management, as it expands into active assailant and terrorism and political violence cover.
Strong joins from Aspen Insurance Group, where he spent more than a decade including several years as head of crisis management.
Brokers placing terrorism, political violence or active assailant cover for clients gain a new, credible market entrant led by someone with genuine sector depth, which matters in a class where underwriting appetite and pricing can be inconsistent across the market.
Strong's Aspen background, where average active assailant limits purchased ran around $7.8 million against a $25 million maximum, gives brokers a useful reference point for benchmarking the kind of limits Clearwater is likely to be comfortable writing as it builds out this new portfolio.
Richard Young, Clearwater's chief underwriting officer, said the nature of geopolitical risk has changed significantly in recent years, creating demand brokers are increasingly having to respond to on behalf of clients across a widening range of sectors, not just those traditionally seen as high-risk.
