People Moves: Cowbell Names CNA’s Bilbao as UK Director of Underwriting; Allianz Commercial Promotes Execs in Iberia, Latin America

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Cowbell Cyber and Allianz Commercial.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Cowbell Names CNA’s Bilbao as UK Director of Underwriting

Cowbell, the Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of cyber insurance for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), announced it is bolstering its underwriting capabilities with new additions to its UK and US teams. Claud Bilbao joins as UK director of underwriting, reporting to Simon Hughes, general manager for UK operations.

most recently served as a senior underwriter at CNA, responsible for running the London Specialty Cyber and Technology portfolios on both their company and Lloyd’s platforms. He played a vital role in the successful development and execution of CNA’s London strategy. Bilbao was previously a US technology and cyber underwriter at CFC Underwriting, where he was focused on US West Coast and Silicon Valley technology startups and SMEs.

This new hire follows Cowbell’s recent opening of a new technology center in Pune, India, and announcement of Simon Hughes as general manager to lead the UK operations.

Cowbell’s continuous underwriting platform, powered by Cowbell Factors, compresses the insurance process from submission to issue in less than five minutes. Cowbell is backed by 20 prominent leading global re/insurance partners and serves SMEs in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Founded in 2019, Cowbell has employees across the U.S., Canada, India, and the U.K.

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Allianz Commercial Promotes Execs in Iberia, Latin America

Allianz Commercial has announced managing directors to lead its business in two key regions: Iberia and Latin America.

Agustín de la Cuerda was appointed as commercial managing director for Iberia, and David Colmenares Spence was named commercial managing director for Latin America.

Each managing director will represent the integrated Allianz Commercial insurance business across all countries in their region and bring to the market Allianz’s full set of solutions for specialty clients, large corporates and mid-sized companies, simplifying and enhancing the experience of clients and distribution partners.

de la Cuerda has had many years of leadership and technical insurance experience across Iberia and Latin America, including as chief operating officer of Allianz Seguros (Spain) and Allianz Portugal, and since 2021 as deputy general manager and commercial chief underwriting officer (CUO) at Allianz Seguros (Spain). He will oversee Allianz Commercial’s business across Spain and Portugal, reporting to Veit Stutz, CEO of Allianz Spain, in conjunction with Henning Haagen, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) board member and chief regions & markets officer whose responsibility includes this region.

David Colmenares Spence has been CEO of Allianz Colombia since 2017, prior to which he worked as chief claims officer and chief executive officer in insurance companies such as AIG, ACE (Chubb), Zurich and brokers including Marsh in Latin America and Asia Pacific.

He will continue as CEO of Allianz Colombia until further notice, pending the confirmation of his successor. Allianz services clients across Latin America through its businesses in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and for multinational insurance programs through network partners in other countries. Colmenares will oversee Allianz Commercial’s business across this region, reporting to Javier Bernat, CEO Allianz Latin America in conjunction with Tracy Ryan, board member of AGCS and chief regions & markets officer for the Americas.

Allianz announced on March 10, 2023 that it will serve the global commercial insurance segment as one go-to-market business, using the new trading name of Allianz Commercial, combining its AGCS business serving large corporate and specialty clients together with the insurance businesses of Allianz’s operating entities serving mid-sized country-based accounts.

These appointments and responsibilities are with immediate effect, subject to regulatory approval where required.

Topics Commercial Lines Underwriting Allianz