This week's appointments cover Lloyd's governance, premium finance technology and the insurance industry's work on resilience in developing markets.
Premium finance provider Premium Credit has appointed Ben Andrews (pictured, left) as product director and Sam Harry (pictured, center) as head of AI delivery.
Andrews joins from Octopus Investments, where he led product and data insight. He has 20 years of product experience, including heading digital product at Virgin Media and BT. He will lead the firm's move to a product operating model.
Harry takes on a newly created role, overseeing which AI projects the business pursues and building the governance needed to scale AI safely. He was previously AI product lead at UBS Investment Bank.
"Technology continues to evolve at pace, creating significant opportunities to enhance the way we operate," said Tara Waite, Premium Credit chief executive. She added that the hires would help the business use AI, including agentic AI, to drive growth and efficiency.
Premium Credit is embedded in many brokers' payment journeys, so changes to its products and processes flow directly into how clients pay for cover. The emphasis on AI governance is worth watching, because brokers remain responsible for customer outcomes on finance arrangements they introduce under Consumer Duty.
The Insurance Development Forum has appointed Hope Murera (pictured, right) as deputy chair of its steering committee. Murera is managing director and group chief executive of ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) and already sits on the committee. She will keep her ZEP-RE role.
She has more than 30 years' experience in African insurance and reinsurance, and chairs ACRE Africa, ZEP-RE's agricultural technology subsidiary focused on climate resilience for farmers.
"There is no financial inclusion without insurance," said Murera.
Michel Liès, chair of the IDF steering committee, said her knowledge of African markets would help connect global insurance capabilities with national priorities as the forum enters its second decade.
The IDF is a public-private partnership working to bring insurance to developing economies. For London brokers active in parametric, agricultural and sovereign risk programmes, an African reinsurance chief in a senior IDF role strengthens the link between global capacity and the markets where demand is growing.
Asta has appointed Bob Stuchbery as an independent non-executive director of the Asta Managing Agency board, effective October 1.
Stuchbery spent more than two decades at Chaucer, latterly as chief executive until 2015, and later served as president of international operations at The Hanover Group. He joined the Beazley plc board in 2016 and until recently chaired its Lloyd's managing agency, Beazley Furlonge. He has also been an independent non-executive director of South African insurer Santam since September 2025.
He follows Nylesh Shah, who joined the Asta board as an independent director earlier this year.
"Strong, independent governance is central to Asta's model," said Lorraine Harfitt, Asta chief executive.
Asta's platform hosts third-party syndicates, many of them start-ups and specialist underwriting businesses that brokers place with. Having a former Lloyd's chief executive and managing agency chair on the board adds weight to oversight of those syndicates at a time when Lloyd's scrutiny of new entrants remains tight.
