People Moves: AGCS Creates Delegated Authority, Portfolio & Facilities Team; WTW Bolsters Exposure Mgmt, Climate Analytics Unit; IQUW Hires Jiang for Political Risk

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), Willis Towers Watson (WTW), and Lloyd’s insurer IQUW.

A summary of these new hire follows here.

AGCS Creates Delegated Authority, Portfolio & Facilities Team, Led by Sampson

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is targeting growth in its Delegated Authority, Portfolio & Facility business by establishing a new market-facing team, based in London.

The newly created “Delegated Authority, Portfolio & Facilities Management” team will be led by Anna Sampson who is appointed Delegated Authority and Portfolio Solutions manager, effective immediately and reporting to Nadia Côté, managing director, Regional Unit London (RUL) & Nordics at AGCS. Sampson has over 15 years industry experience gained at a number of insurers in increasingly senior roles. She joined Allianz in 2021 as delegated underwriting manager in the RUL & Nordics Financial Lines team.

In her new role Sampson will lead a team of three and be responsible for expanding and diversifying the portfolio of Delegated Authority and Facilities business for AGCS – Allianz’s entity for large-scale corporate and specialty risks. Figures produced by The International Underwriting Association (IUA) show £4.8 billion was underwritten via delegated authority arrangements in 2021.

“With the creation of this new team, under Anna’s leadership, we are well placed to capture new business in this segment of corporate insurance beyond our current portfolio. This ambition is very much in line with our overall market leadership aspirations for AGCS in London and globally,” said Côté.

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WTW Bolsters Exposure Mgmt, Climate Analytics Team With Senior Hires

WTW announced the appointment of Michelle Radcliffe to the company’s Insurance Consulting and Technology (ICT) business. In her new role as director in the Exposure Management and Climate Analytics Team, Radcliffe will focus on climate transition risks and exposure management for underwriting, against a backdrop of changing legislation and market environmental, social, and governance initiatives.

Radcliffe comes to WTW from the international law firm CMS, where as part of its environmental team she advised clients on various aspects of UK Net Zero, the European Green Deal, sustainability and wider climate change and environmental risk management issues. Prior to this role, she was a member of the law firm’s insurance team and developed specialist expertise in advising insurers and reinsurers on climate change risks likely to impact their underwriting books.

“Michelle has a unique insight into the environmental and insurance risk landscape, giving her an in-depth understanding of liability and risk solutions,” said David Singh, head of Climate Analytics and Exposure Management, ICT, WTW. “This will provide strong value to our clients, as we continue to lead the development of innovative and practical propositions to help insurers respond and adapt quickly to the climate challenge. We are delighted to have her on the team.”

WTW has also announced the appointment of Tim Newman and Naima Ali as associate director and senior associate, respectively, in the Climate Analytics and Exposure Management team. Newman joins from Cyber Cube and Ali from SCOR, where both specialized in non-property and property catastrophe risk solutions and analytics. All three new appointees will report into David Singh and will be based in London.

WTW’s Insurance Consulting and Technology business has more than 1,200 colleagues operating in 35 markets worldwide. It provides advice, solutions and software – primarily to the insurance industry. Its consulting services help clients manage risk and capital, improve business performance, and create competitive advantage – by focusing on financial and regulatory reporting, enterprise risk and capital management, M&A and corporate restructuring, products, pricing, business management and strategy.

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IQUW Hires Jiang for Political Risk Team

IQUW, the London-based property, commercial, and speciality insurer and reinsurer, announced the expansion of its Political Risk team with the appointment of Cindy Jiang as political risk underwriter to its Specialty Division.

As part of the business’s 2023 strategy, Jiang will be responsible for growing IQUW’s Political Risk business. Based in London, Jiang will report to Chris Wilkinson, head of Specialty at IQUW, who has been managing the book since 2021.

“I am thrilled to have Cindy as part of the team as we grow the Political Risk book in 2023 and beyond,” said Wilkinson.

“Her product line expertise supported by her fluency in English, Mandarin and French as well as her proactive attitude will enable IQUW to forge stronger client and broker relationships and deliver excellent service,” Wilkinson added. “As a team with no legacy portfolio, we are able to present an attractive offering to clients and brokers both in capacity constrained transactions but also with a fresh and unencumbered view of risk. Our entrepreneurial approach means we consider each transaction on its merits and, by combining underwriting expertise with automation and intelligent use of data, we can create innovative solutions to complex problems.”

Jiang joins IQUW from RBC Capital Markets, where she held the role of Equity Research Associate in the European Insurance Research team. Prior to that, she was class underwriter in Political Risk and Trade Credit at Talbot Underwriting.

IQUW’s Political Risk book is global in scope, with a focus on emerging market risk. The client base includes international banks, public agencies, traders and corporates and provides coverage for their transactions with sovereign and majority state-owned counterparties and against acts of nationalization and confiscation. With the ability to offer tenors of up to 15 years, the team plans to be a meaningful long-term partner to its clients in support of their business risks.

IQUWs insurance and reinsurance products are distributed through Lloyd’s Syndicate 1856 and provide insurance cover for cyber, cargo, marine, political risk, energy, property, D&O, financial institutions, political violence and terror and war risks, plus Reinsurance for both property treaty international and specific to the US, as well as specialty reinsurance.

Topics Willis Towers Watson