Energy

Will Curtis will lead the new unit as property risk partner, as the MGA separately increases its energy capacity.

The exit of Aspen and Liberty along with a “challenging claims environment” has put pressure on the class.

The broker has made a number of recent hires, including in the energy division in London.

Tom Baker will become the carrier’s first ever global head to be based in Asia.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has received approval from the California bankruptcy court for an $11bn settlement with insurers related to wildfire losses in 2017 and 2018.

The loss from a March explosion at a South Korean petrochemical plant has expanded from about $200mn to around $600mn after business interruption (BI) claims pushed up the initial loss estimate.

The upstream energy market is unlikely to face a claim for the hijacking of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel off the coast of Nigeria earlier this month.

Insurers for BW Offshore’s Sendje Berge FPSO may have dodged a bullet following a pirate attack on the vessel, but the ordeal may only be beginning for the nine crew members kidnapped in the raid.

Insurers’ ambitions cannot be sustained in a prolonged soft rating environment, the broker says.

A spell of damaging losses has led to sustained positive rate movement in the sector.

Dominican Republic firm Refidomsa ran a request for proposal process earlier this year.

Warren Diogo will head up the London-based team and focus on wind and solar risks.