Liberty expands financial risk solutions unit, hires senior broker from WTW

Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has made two senior appointments in its financial risk solutions (FRS) division and expanded its political risk team with a new hire from WTW.

Huw Owen (pictured left), formerly FRS head of underwriting and London Markets, will take on the newly created role of FRS chief underwriting officer, while Sam Wilde (pictured centre), formerly underwriting manager of FRS, will become FRS head of London Markets, the role vacated by Owen.

Additionally, Mia Jureidini (pictured right) will join the FRS division as political risk underwriter. She will be based in London, reporting to William Limb, LSM’s political risk practice leader. Jureidini was most recently a senior broker with WTW.

Owen joined Liberty in 2012 as global financial risks – head of London Markets after ten years in insurance. Wilde joined Liberty in 2017 as a senior underwriter after 13 years in banking.

Peter Sprent, global head of FRS, said: “The credit and political risk insurance market has grown significantly in both scale and complexity over the past 10 years, and we expect this trend to continue. We are investing in our teams to ensure that we can provide the highest level of service to our clients and broking partners.

“Huw has been instrumental in developing Liberty’s growing product capabilities. He’ll be responsible for ensuring that our global underwriting teams are positioned to provide market-leading innovative financial risks solutions in each of our market segments.

“Sam has expanded FRS’s non-payment offering and developed a number of our strategic initiatives, most notably project finance, asset-backed finance and capital markets. Our clients and brokers will benefit from his technical expertise and commercial acumen.”

Limb commented: “Socio-economic issues stoked by the pandemic, increasing foreign direct investment in relation to the energy transition, and the post-pandemic recovery, have increased demand for the political risk product. Mia’s knowledge, market experience and ability to forge strong working relationships make her a valuable addition to our team.”

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