QBE Insurance Group has announced new appointments for its European operations, naming Simon Højmark (pictured left) as product manager for cyber and Dr Patrick Seul (pictured right) as product manager for management liability and financial institutions.
Taking effect on July 1, the promotions are part of the international insurer’s strategy to foster cross-national expertise. Both Højmark and Seul will report to Naintara Agarwal, QBE’s director of underwriting and portfolio management for Europe.
Højmark, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been with QBE for 13 years, starting out as finance controller before progressing to assistant underwriter and then underwriter for casualty and financial lines.
In 2015, Højmark spearheaded QBE’s cyber insurance proposition in the Nordic region. He advanced to the role of Nordics financial lines portfolio manager five years later. He has also served as cyber subject matter expert for continental Europe, recently holding the position of European technical manager for cyber.
Seul, meanwhile, brings a wealth of experience from his 14 years in insurance. Most recently, he was QBE’s portfolio manager for financial and specialty markets in Germany and Austria. His career began with a directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability underwriter post at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in Munich.
The Germany-based leader then joined Aon as a D&O broker and became broking manager for South Germany. Seul’s journey continued at AIG where he managed D&O commercial/crime for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He came on board QBE in 2019, working as financial lines portfolio manager and serving as European technical manager for D&O and financial institutions.
Commenting on the appointments, Agarwal said: “Our ongoing strategy is to focus on our financial lines practice across the continent and the UK, ensuring that our clients have a comprehensive suite of products and receive the excellent service they have come to expect from us.
“With Simon and Patrick on my team, our commitment to that endeavour is strong.”
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