Fusion lures AXA XL M&A specialist for US expansion

Fusion Specialty, a M&A and financial lines insurance specialist focussed on small and mid-size (SME) businesses, has bolstered its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) capability with a senior hire from AXA XL.

Richard Liu will join Fusion Americas as partner following the businesses’ recent launch. He will play an integral role in cementing the MGA’s global capability and presence in North America, and provide tech-enabled solutions to the underserved lower and midmarket business sector.

Liu brings legal, broking as well as underwriting experience to  Fusion, having primarily worked within the M&A market. He joins from AXA XL where he held the role of vice president, M&A. Whilst there, he worked within the global M&A space, creating complex and tailored solutions while cultivating key industry contacts among law firms, regional brokers, and private equity firms. Prior to that, Liu was vice president at Atlantic Global Risk having previously worked at KPMG within its M&A tax group.

Brian Hayes, managing partner,  Fusion Americas, said: “Richard is exactly the caliber of talent we are looking to attract as we build a market leading proposition within the small to mid-sized businesses M&A marketplace in North America. In a market awash with untapped opportunity but with limited access to suitable and affordable insurance products offering appropriate levels of cover, the expertise of underwriters such as Richard, backed by  Fusion Americas’ data and technology led ecosystem, have never been more valuable. I look forward to working with Richard and expanding upon our team and range of products in due course.”

Liu commented: “ Fusion Specialty’s success in the Asia Pacific is well known and we are primed to replicate and build upon the business’s reputation in North America. There is a large appetite for the tech-enabled solutions  Fusion Americas can offer to the traditionally overlooked and underserved small to midmarket sector.  With its global and regional expertise, unique access to data and the desire to transform the transactional insurance market,  Fusion Americas is set to become a leading player and I am excited to join and help realize these ambitions.”

Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.