Hiscox : Everything you need to know

Hiscox: Everything you need to know

About Hiscox

Hiscox is an international insurance group that is headquartered in Bermuda, and originated as a niche Lloyd’s underwriter. The company balances its catastrophe-exposed business with less volatile local specialty business.

Its big-ticket businesses (the biggest insurance risks that the company underwrites, which are normally traded internationally and through a broker) include Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re & ILS, while its Hiscox Retail business (smaller or more specialist risks where Hiscox works with its clients either directly or through a broker) encompasses Hiscox USA, Hiscox UK, Hiscox Europe, Hiscox Special Risks, and DirectAsia.

Hiscox in the news

June 2016: Hiscox won’t return to UK after Brexit

November 2016: Hiscox sees premiums grow despite rate pressure

October 2017: Hiscox introduces product to address flood insurance gap

November 2017: Hiscox announces results for first nine months of the year

February 2018: Hiscox in London trial over data protection breach

August 2018: Hiscox Re & ILS names new North America chair

November 2018: Hiscox Re & ILS boosts leadership line-up

November 2018: Hiscox reveals latest numbers and Brexit update

June 2019: Hiscox launches cyber exposure calculator

July 2019: Hiscox: The Ferrari of cybersecurity is no good without a driver

July 2019: New Hiscox marine solution leaves port

November 2019: Hiscox backs Pikl in sharing economy insurance scheme

November 2019: Hiscox shares slip with fears of casualty claims

December 2019: Hiscox may lose FTSE 100 status

January 2020: Hiscox London Market to digitalise underwriting process

January 2020: Hiscox introduces new chief investment officer

January 2020: Hiscox boosts tech insurance offering

January 2020: Hiscox secures agreement with risk analytics software company CyberCube

May 2020: Hiscox confirms capital raise amid COVID-19

June 2020: Hiscox Action Group set to intervene in FCA test case

July 2020: Hiscox and RKH team up for new variable consortium

August 2020: Hiscox sees combined ratio soar

September 2020: Hiscox creates new crisis management division

November 2020: Hiscox warns of profit hit if COVID-19 outbreak continues into next year

April 2021: Hiscox names Robert Dietrich as Europe chief

July 2021: Hiscox boss Bronek Masojada retiring – names Aki Hussain as successor

August 2021: Hiscox to bring in Helen Rose as finance chief for London Market unit

December 2021: Hiscox names Paul Cooper as group chief financial officer

January 2022: Hiscox welcomes Matthew Wilken as new underwriting chief

February 2022: Hiscox UK appoints Jon Dye as CEO

Key people

Aki Hussain – Group CEO
Hussain joined Hiscox in 2016 as chief financial officer for the Hiscox Group, before becoming Group CEO in January 2022. Prior to joining Hiscox, he held several senior roles in the financial services, telecoms, and media industries. Hussain spent seven years at Prudential plc, serving as chief financial officer for the firm’s UK and European operations. He was also finance director for the consumer bank division at Lloyd’s Banking Group until 2009 and prior to that was finance director for the consumer division of ntl (now Virgin Media). Hussain is a chartered accountant, having trained with KPMG.

Paul Cooper – Group chief financial officer
Cooper joined Hiscox in 2022 as group chief financial officer. Prior to this, he served as interim group chief financial officer of M&G Plc. He also held senior leadership roles, mostly as CFO, in several major industry players, including Canopius AG, Arrow Global, Hiscox Insurance, and Ernst & Young. Cooper is also a board member of the Association of British Insurers (ABI). He is a qualified Chartered Accountant, having trained with PwC.

Joanne Musselle – Group chief underwriting officer
Musselle came onboard at Hiscox in 2002, though she had many years of insurance experience before then from her work at AXA and Aviva in the UK and Asian markets. She started at Hiscox as a technical underwriting manager in professions and specialty commercial, and later moved to work for the group as business improvement manager. In 2006, Musselle joined Hiscox Group’s claims unit as head of claims strategy and then achieved the position of head of UK claims. She took on the CUO position for Hiscox UK and Ireland in July 2012 and became CUO of Hiscox Retail in July 2017. At the end of 2019, she was appointed CUO for Hiscox Group.

Culture

In 2019, Hiscox’s mental health and wellbeing employee network WeMind took a top prize when it was named winner of the Outstanding Employee Network award at the 2019 European Diversity Awards. More broadly, according to the Hiscox Group’s 2018 Annual Report, the company works on creating environments where its employees can succeed.

In its 2018 global employee engagement survey, Hiscox employees reported that 86% of them were proud to work for the firm, 94% said they believed in the company’s corporate values, and 80% said they would recommend Hiscox as a great place to work. Hiscox has also ranked seventh in Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards for the UK’s Best Places to Work in 2018.