Specialist broker Gallagher Re has announced the formation of a new cyber reinsurance specialism in Bermuda, as the company looks to expand its global cyber practice.
The new team will be led by specialist cyber broker Seb Plummer and is aimed at enhancing support for local clients while helping expand cyber capacity provision and facilitate the effective deployment of capital into the space.
It’s described as a potentially first-of-its-kind cyber-specific reinsurance broking practice and will see Plummer establish a team of reinsurance specialists based on the island.
The new outfit will provide dedicated, specialist services and support to locally headquartered clients, as well as focusing on the development of cyber distribution, products and capital.
“As we head with pace towards the PC&C market we predicted a few years ago – where cyber inevitably becomes just as significant as the property and casualty sectors – cyber will need massive amounts of additional capital,” said Ian Newman, Global Head of Cyber at Gallagher Re.
“With its reputation for innovation and entrepreneurialism in catastrophe reinsurance and alternative risk transfer, Bermuda is the obvious place to look to develop some of that much-needed new capacity as well as build out our own specialist capabilities.
“And with his direct market experience, technical understanding of the underlying product, and cyber reinsurance expertise, Seb is the ideal person to help clients and capacity in Bermuda capitalise on a class rife with opportunities.”
Commenting on the announcement, Plummer noted, “Bermuda is the perfect partner for what is arguably the most exciting and fastest growing area of (re)insurance, and I’m really looking forward to working closely, in person, with our growing number of clients here.
“There is nowhere better in my mind than Bermuda to seek to develop new capacity that could enable the cyber market to grow sustainably over the next five to 10 years.
“As a market that has recently seen multi-billion dollar injections of fresh capital to support start-ups and scale-ups, Bermuda’s renewed vibrancy and increasingly diverse trading environment makes it ideal for the evolution of cyber, which itself enjoys a distinctive and dynamic ability to adapt and react more quickly than other classes.”
