Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), a division of global insurer Allianz, has announced the promotion of Yogesh Virji to lead its UK Cyber division and the appointment of Hui Yu as a Senior Underwriter, within the UK Cyber team.
Virji was previously Underwriting Manager for Financial Lines at AGCS, and has more than 20 years of financial lines underwriting experience in cyber, directors and officers liability, pension trustee liability, employment practices liability, crime, and public offering of securities insurance.
Yu joins AGCS in the New Year from Principia Underwriting, and will report to Virji, the firm’s new UK Cyber head.
Kevin Northcott, AGCS Head of Financial Lines Regional division London, commented; “The appointments of Yogi and Hui highlights our commitment to providing our clients with a superior underwriting offering. Supported by our dedicated Cyber Risk Engineering capabilities and wider risk management solutions, including AGCS’ Cyber Risk Panel, I am confident their skills and experience will help us strengthen our relationships with partners in 2018.”
The international cyber insurance industry is expected to expand dramatically in the coming years, and AGCS said that these appointments support its commitment to building its expertise in the cyber arena.
The growth of the UK cyber division comes after AGCS recently announced a partnership with cyber analytics and modelling firm, Cyence, discussed at the time by Reinsurance News.
Emy Donavan, AGCS Global Head of Cyber, said; “These appointments enhance the team as we look to take our cyber proposition into the next phase. Cyber incidents topped the list of concerns for UK risk experts for the second year running in the most recent Allianz Risk Barometer. Recent cyber-incidents have also revealed how vulnerable even well-prepared businesses can be to cyber threats. The trend towards the increase in cyber regulation and the evolution of risks businesses face make it more important than ever for companies of all sizes and in all industries to review their cyber security and resilience, and consider cyber insurance as part of their risk management strategy.”
