Henry Gillingham will head team of highly experienced professionals in the sector to provide sophisticated underwriting advantages to growing market demand worldwide
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New York, New York -- Monday, September 23, 2024 -- Applied Underwriters today announced Applied Crisis Underwriters, a new division within its United Risk subsidiary set to launch this December. The newly formed specialty enterprise, based in London, will meet the increasing demand for political risk insurance coverages globally, focusing on property damage, business interruption, and liability. Mr. Henry Gillingham, President of the division, will lead a highly experienced group of professionals specializing in political violence and war perils for both fixed and mobile assets. Joining Mr. Gillingham are sector leaders Mr. Chris Marsh, Senior Underwriter, and Mr. Joe Walsh, Senior Vice President and head of the division’s New York office.
Mr. Jamie Sahara, President of Applied Underwriters, called the creation of Applied Crisis Underwriters an important step for the Company's brokers and their clients: “The realization of our plans for this division expands our global market presence with a product and program portfolio that complements Applied Credit Underwriters and its underwriting of expropriation, frustration, and related coverages, giving us the ability to innovate and expand meaningfully in a risk transfer space we will define across the map. We are very optimistic about this new development, particularly given the team’s combined expertise in political violence and war perils."
According to Dan Malloy, CEO of United Risk, "United Risk continues to develop its proprietary, multi-layered, cutting-edge underwriting platforms that will ingest submissions with speed and high accuracy, combining qualitative and quantitative data sets to form a robust view of risk and analysis, provide live actuarial feedback on both a per-risk and portfolio basis, reduce administrative costs that present a historic drag on this market, free up time for dynamic and thoughtful underwriting, improve the speed of submission response, provide enhanced reporting and servicing, and provide underwriting advantages from reporting to exposure management. We are positioned for dramatic growth.”
Mr. Gillingham underlined the emerging issues facing the new enterprise: "Broadly, the direction of political policy in the democratic world is hard to predict; with over 60% of the world population going to the ballot boxes this year, the only certainty is that there will be change, the effects of which we are monitoring closely both in the short and longer terms. Global debt levels continue to increase to unprecedented levels, and, as we have seen in Latin America, South Africa, and more recently Kenya, populations react, often violently, to attempts by governments to rein in spending and increase taxes. This is expected to continue in the foreseeable future, with large scale rioting increasing in both frequency and severity. This is not continent-specific but a global trend that we are closely monitoring. These multifaceted political and security challenges mean that the need for our product couldn't be higher. We look forward to working closely with our brokers and coverholders to support solutions to these trends for their clients.”
"In terms of our delivery, political violence and war classes require analytics from multiple data sources," Mr. Gillingham observed, adding: "The technology we will be implementing automates many of the pre-underwriting and analytical functions carried out by underwriters ahead of pricing, significantly increasing turnaround time and servicing. Ours is a dynamic platform enabling us to react ahead of potential changes in loss trends and ultimately improving underwriter performance. United Risk is an ideal partner, committed to building a business that brings value to all stakeholders and that will profit from the most advanced technology.”
Henry Gillingham, President, has been in this market for 21 years and started the PV & Aviation War division at an Argo Syndicate at Lloyds. He served at Westfield Specialty Insurance, London (2020-2024) as Head of Political Violence and War, and at Talbot Underwriting, London (2004-2020) as a Hull & War Underwriter, Terrorism & War Underwriter, and Senior Class Underwriter.
Joe Walsh, Senior Vice President, has 17 years of experience, including at Validus Specialty, NYC (2017-2024) as Senior VP - Head of War and Terrorism USA; Talbot Underwriting, London (2015-2017), Class Underwriter; Liberty Specialty Markets, London (2012-2015), Deputy Class Underwriter; and Lancashire Insurance Group, London (2007-2012), Assistant Underwriter.
Chris Marsh, Senior Underwriter, has been in underwriting for over 10 years with a specific focus on international markets. His experience includes Westfield Specialty Insurance, London (2020-present); Underwriter, Political Violence and War at Neon, London (2015-2020); Underwriter, Terrorism and Political Violence.
For further information, contact press@auw.com.
About United Risk Global
United Risk Global is an international property and casualty insurance underwriting and distribution platform independently owned and operated by its practice partners and affiliated with Applied Underwriters operationally and through its common and powerful brand identity. United Risk’s home office is located at 50 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
About Applied Underwriters (www.auw.com)
Applied Underwriters® is a global risk services firm that helps businesses and people manage uncertainty through its business services, insurance and reinsurance solutions. As a company, Applied Underwriters has been distinguished by its innovative approaches to client care and by its strong financial strength. Applied Underwriters operates widely throughout the US, UK, EU and Middle East. Its operational headquarters is located in Omaha, Nebraska.
