The threat to UK businesses and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks by nation states and bad actors remains “widely underestimated” by the public, with policymakers increasingly looking to the (re)insurance market to promote and build cyber resilience.

Redpoint Cyber’s president and CEO Russell Safirstein has stepped down from his post running the company after six years in charge, after the cybersecurity firm was acquired by investment firm Mitsui & Co.

Tokio Marine HCC has highlighted a concerning increase in supply chain attacks in a new report on the 10 largest cyber incidents of 2024, with the carrier emphasising the need for robust collaboration and proactive security measures as businesses continue to depend on shared infrastructure.

The abundant capacity seen at the 1.1 cyber reinsurance renewals is expected to remain adequate to meet demand this year, but reinsurance brokers have cautioned that more capacity and further innovation will be required for the market to meet its long-term growth potential.

Market observers are predicting that cyber rates will moderate this year, there will be greater policy standardisation and the frequency of incidents will increase due to AI.

January 25 (Reuters) - The cyberattack at UnitedHealth Group's tech unit last year affected the personal information of 190 million people, the health conglomerate said on Friday, making it the largest healthcare data breach in the United States.

SMEs in the UK are increasingly at risk of cyberattacks but remain both largely unaware of the threat they face and unprotected by insurance, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

MSIG USA has appointed former Guy Carpenter executive Siobhan O'Brien as head of cyber insurance.

A federal court has granted preliminary approval for a $45mn settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International over two major data breaches in 2019 and 2023 that exposed the personal information of millions of customers.

Cyber-focused Envelop Risk has promoted Graeme Bell to group COO and Simon Welton to executive vice president for underwriting performance and strategic partnerships.

In September 2023, Moody’s announced the launch of its Moody’s RMS Cyber Industry Steering Group alongside founding members Axis Capital, Bitsight, Gallagher Re and Munich Re.

IT infrastructure is the invisible engine that drives our world. From apps on phones to the systems powering hospitals, banks and airlines, we rely on technology to keep businesses running smoothly.

In a filing in mid-December in the Southern District of New York the plaintiff in a case brought against USAA moved for preliminary approval of a $3.25mn common fund settlement.

Coalition has rolled out a new regional go-to-market model in North America, establishing five new territories, in an operating model shift aimed at centralizing broker engagement as well as driving faster and better service, Cyber Risk Insurer can reveal.

Lockton Re has confirmed the appointment of Gallagher Re’s Theo Norris as UK capital markets structuring and cyber ILS leader.

California-based cyber insurer Cowbell has appointed Tim Regilio, former director or business development at Sayata, as the head of the Western US territory.

UK-based cybersecurity firm Quorum Cyber has acquired San Francisco-based Kivu Consulting, a global cybersecurity company specialising in incident response.

Vantage Risk has hired Chelsea Law, former Northeast territory manager of distribution at Resilience Insurance, as its new Northeast region distribution leader, effective immediately.

Resilience grew premiums by more than 40 percent to around $180mn and policy count by 57 percent in 2024, which CEO Vishaal “V8” Hariprasad acknowledged came just shy of its targets amid softening conditions, as he doubled down on growth plans for 2025.

At-Bay has dismissed an undisclosed number of staff, including a handful of underwriting positions and around a dozen back-office staff, as part of an efficiency drive, Cyber Risk Insurer can reveal.

London-based K2 International, a division of K2 Insurance Services, has launched K2 Credit, specialising in non-payment insurance solutions for the non-bank sector.

Nardac Insurance Services has unveiled a new facility offering US-based renewable energy project development and operations up to $20mn in limits for additional severe convective storm catastrophe coverage, Program Manager can reveal.

London-based litigation risk-focused MGA Ignite Specialty Risk has hired Ankit Patel as US head of intellectual property underwriting.

Lloyd’s coverholder Hedgehog Risk has sold “a substantial interest” in its business to Susquehanna International Group affiliate SIG Insurance Holdings, LLC, Program Manager can reveal.

Coterie has updated the paper on which it writes its professional liability products to Everspan with plans to also move its business owner’s policy and general liability products to the Steve Dresner-led specialty program carrier in the coming year, Program Manager can reveal.

Crescent Specialty has bolstered its ranks with the hire of Russel Howes as managing director of upstream/midstream energy, with the recruit joining the Houston, Texas-based MGA from McGriff.

NYC-based MGA Falcon Risk Services has launched FalconFlight, a new cyber technology E&O and MPL insurance solution.

Ryan Specialty has appointed Sean Ryan as executive vice president within Ryan Re Underwriting Managers, an MGU specialising in property and casualty treaty reinsurance.

Lockton Re’s newly launched Portfolio Solutions unit is part of a “concerted effort” by the reinsurance broker to make US MGA, program and facilities business one of its core pillars, Jeff Fleming has told Program Manager.

It was another bumper year for the programs and MGA market in 2024, with the burgeoning sector’s growth continuing with both existing operations looking to strengthen their foothold in the space and new players entering the sector in the hope of making their mark.

Stonybrook Capital & Risk Management has forecast further MGA spin-offs as investors look to leverage the arbitrage in valuations between distribution and balance sheet businesses.

Shepherd closed 2024 having “shifted” its core value proposition as it brought new products to market and tripled the amount of business it wrote, with the MGU now considering branching into new industry verticals beyond construction, CEO Justin Levine has told Program Manager.

MGAs’ focus on the fast-growing specialty market and the continued interest from talent and capital in entering the space mean that the sector will “comfortably” outpace premium growth rates of the broader insurance industry over the coming years, according to a report from Lexicon Associates.

Welcome to the latest edition of Program Manager, and a happy new year to all our readers.

Crescent Specialty CEO Bill Farnan has described the firm’s recently secured Lloyd’s coverholder status as a “feather in the cap” for the marine and energy-focused MGA, and one it will now use to support its bid to add new programs and talent to its platform.

Sands Point Risk has secured A+ XV capacity from RLI to launch a de novo New York contractors program, led by former CNA executive John Furey, Program Manager can reveal.

Westchester, Chubb’s excess and surplus lines division, has announced the creation of three new business practices — property, casualty, and financial lines — to support the organisation’s digital and middle market, brokerage, and programs businesses.

Ryan Specialty has appointed former Zurich executive Justin Budd as senior vice president and head of internal consulting within its specialty underwriting segment, Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (RSUM).

In the latest of a series of RICO lawsuits, Roosevelt Road Re, Tradesman Program Managers and Ionian Re have sued Liakas Law and dozens of others over an alleged fraud scheme involving construction workers staging construction accidents and collecting workers’ compensation benefits.

Frontier Risk Group has closed a $3mn seed-plus round and partnered with Illinois Casualty Company ahead of launching an MGA that aims to bring tech-enabled and data-rich underwriting to the cannabis supply chain and fast-emerging THC beverages market, Program Manager can reveal.

Axa XL has hired Tim Whisler from Lexington's contract binding platform Western World as its head of wholesale solutions in the Americas, the company confirmed after E&S Insurer revealed the move on Monday.

The Golden State’s insurance sector will see “a massive expansion” in the E&S market in the wake of the southern California wildfires, Brown & Brown’s CEO and president J Powell Brown has predicted.

WR Berkley’s fourth quarter underwriting gain fell by 6 percent to $295mn, driven by cat losses that more than doubled to $79.6mn from $32.0mn, while net premiums written at the firm grew by 8 percent to $2.94bn from $2.72bn from the prior-year quarter.

Pricing trends in the private D&O segment remained slightly negative in Q4 with soft market conditions expected to continue through 2025, but in cyber the impact of rising claims frequency will likely trigger a shift in soft market dynamics in the second and third quarters of the year, according to CRC.

Brown & Brown’s consolidated organic growth accelerated to 13.8 percent in Q4 from 9.5 percent in the third quarter, driven by a 38.6 percent surge in national programs and a 4.4 percent pickup in retail, as its overall adjusted Ebitdac margin expanded by 190 basis points.

Tim Whisler, executive vice president and head of Lexington’s contract bind platform Western World Insurance Group, has left the AIG-owned carrier to join Axa XL as head of wholesale, E&S Insurer can reveal.

Wholesale broker CRC Group has appointed Daniela Mills as national property practice group director, with the new hire joining after eight years at Lockton.

CRC Insurance Services has continued to expand its National Construction Practice Group with the addition of former Jencap executive Ashley Ward as an inside broker.

Westchester, Chubb’s excess and surplus lines division, has announced the creation of three new business practices — property, casualty, and financial lines — to support the organisation’s digital and middle market, brokerage, and programs businesses.

Sands Point Risk has secured A+ XV capacity from RLI to launch a de novo New York contractors program, led by former CNA executive John Furey, Program Manager can reveal.

Independent insurance underwriting and wholesale brokerage group XS Brokers (XSB) has hired Annie Dawson, former RT Specialty director, underwriting, national binding authority, as senior vice president, national carrier relations and strategy officer.

RLI reported a 3 percent drop in property premium during Q4 as increased competition from MGAs impacted market conditions, while the carrier revealed it secured its largest ever property reinsurance placement at 1.1 which benefitted from rate reductions of 10 to 20 percent.

Colorado-based "neo-insurer" MGT Insurance has launched a new excess and surplus lines company called MGT Specialty, spearheaded by newly hired general manager and industry veteran Chad Nitschke, E&S Insurer can reveal.

RLI’s Q4 underwriting gain fell by 63 percent to $22mn following a sharp drop in its property unit’s result, which included $39mn of Hurricanes Beryl, Helene and Milton-driven catastrophe losses, while its casualty unit swung to a loss after earning a small profit in the prior year period.

Mountain View, California-based insurtech startup Flow Specialty's platformless AI model – designed to reduce the manual workload for individual brokers – has passed RPLU certification exams for cyber, errors & omissions, and executive liability modules.

Frontier Risk Group has closed a $3mn seed-plus round and partnered with Illinois Casualty Company ahead of launching an MGA that aims to bring tech-enabled and data-rich underwriting to the cannabis supply chain and fast-emerging THC beverages market, Program Manager can reveal.

Specialty insurer Global Indemnity has completed an “extensive” reorganisation code-named “Project Manifest” through the creation of wholesale commercial, vacant express, collectibles and specialty products divisions, separate tech and claims businesses, and the de-stacking of its insurance companies.

CRC Group has confirmed that it has hired former Brown & Riding casualty producer and shareholder Andrew Grim as senior vice president of casualty, adding to its national construction practice group.

Brown & Riding has appointed JulieAnne Lally as its real estate practice leader.

CRC Group is continuing its drive of hiring senior wholesale talent with the hire of Andrew Grim, one of Brown & Riding’s biggest producers and also its national casualty practice leader, E&S Insurer understands.

Countries that spend more of their economic output on increasing P&C insurance penetration on average show better progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, new research by Allianz has found.

Nardac Insurance Services has unveiled a new facility offering US-based renewable energy project development and operations up to $20mn in limits for additional severe convective storm catastrophe coverage, Program Manager can reveal.

In our first monthly edition of the year, Sustainable Insurer outlines five key trends that look poised to have the sector talking throughout 2025…

Protesters from the Extinction Rebellion movement disrupted the Airmic Risk Forum on Wednesday, which was held at Howden's London headquarters.

A coalition of Democratic Californian senators have introduced a bill that aims to improve insurance affordability in the state by transferring the cost burden arising from climate disasters to fossil fuel companies.

The mean gender pay gap across QBE's UK operations stood at 20.4 percent in 2024, an improvement of 1.5 percentage points from the prior year.

Fifteen of Allianz's offices across the UK and Europe have been targeted by protest group Palestine Action over the German carrier's alleged involvement with an Israeli weapons manufacturer.

MSIG Asia has penned a strategic partnership with MGU RiskPoint to advance the Asia Pacific region's renewable energy insurance market.

President Donald Trump's executive order to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement is unlikely to impact market conditions for renewable energy insurance, although there may be some short-term uncertainty around project financing.

The Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby (ACIL) has called on the federal government to reinvest surplus funds from the state-backed cyclone reinsurance pool into initiatives that aim to reduce insurance premiums for northern Australian residents.

Axa XL has appointed Debbie Durkhan as head of distribution, energy transition.

Axa XL has penned a partnership with London GreenCity, a UK accelerator for development-stage climate tech entrepreneurs, to offer expertise in insurance and risk management to its members.

Firms within the US insurance industry no longer see diversity and inclusion as a key factor in recruiting C-suite members, according to Shawn Cole, executive recruiter and president of Cowen Partners Executive Search.

The UK government's consultation on a captive insurance framework could allow fossil fuel companies to self-insure assets no longer covered in the traditional insurance market, environmental protest group Insure Our Future has warned.

Start-up MGA Volt Underwriting has continued its run of hires from Travelers' renewable energy leadership team with the appointment of Tom Nooth-Cooper.

Carbon insurer Kita has named Alex Pillay to the newly created role of head of underwriting.

Axa has developed a custom structured parametric insurance programme for carbon credits developed by US non-profit Well Done Foundation (WDF) in collaboration with captive (re)insurer AgriCap Group.

Climate change is set to increase the risk from natural catastrophes in countries such as Australia, complicating an already intricate business risk landscape. Storylines can help businesses better understand and manage these complex and often compound climate hazards.

The influx of European directives over the past 24 months is expected to fuel an increase in cross-border environment-related litigation, with insurers facing a potential increase in D&O and E&O exposures, according to Safine Hadri of Kennedys.

The “writing is on the wall” for (re)insurers to begin to disclose nature-related risks and opportunities within their underwriting and investment portfolios ahead of the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements, Oliver Wyman’s Rob Bailey has warned.