Beazley

A recent rise in ransomware incidents – along with pricing deceleration, attracting capital, and the Lloyd’s cyber war exclusions – were among the hot topics at Zywave’s cyber conference in London.

The cross-line facility launch – in a generally firm market – suggests that the tech-driven era of facilitisation is continuing to gain pace.

Details on Beazley’s cyber war product are yet to come to light, but there are questions outstanding on event definition, wordings and whether the market will follow.

The new product is being developed to meet client demand for the coverage as the Lloyd’s market prepares to exclude cyber war as a peril from 31 March.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is creating investor fear across the global financial services sector. 

CEO Adrian Cox and CFO Sally Lake are set to lose more than £100k each in long-term share awards after the accounting error.

Beazley executives spoke of further growth prospects in the class, after its results revealed a 79% combined ratio for its cyber division in 2022.

With the new war exclusions starting to take effect from Q4 last year, the executive expects a disorderly few months before the market reaches equilibrium.

The carrier said an investment loss of $179.7mn largely offset 14% GWP growth over the period.

As Adidas terminated its partnership with Kanye West following his antisemitic tweets, it projected a loss that signalled why insurers should be pushing the need for brand reputation insurance.

The executive is set to replace David Roberts as chair.

Fred Kleiterp will leave his current role as CEO for EMEA at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions to join Beazley in June.