Specialty MGA UK has appointed Amir Hussain (pictured above) as head of political and credit risk as the company launches a new business line and aims to establish a presence in the political risk market.
Hussain has worked as a credit analyst at Barclays and has underwritten for Lloyd’s syndicates, including Brit and Hamilton. He specialises in political risk, contract frustration and credit risk, with experience in building and managing a global portfolio.
Initially, he will focus on engaging with the market and underwriting a stable book of business. Over time, Hussain and Specialty MGA UK plan to expand the team and increase capacity in the sector.
Commenting on the appointment, Manoj Kumar, MNK group chairman, said it is the “right time” for the company to enter the market and Hussain will be a “fantastic” addition.
“I’m excited to work with Manoj and the rest of the team, as this is a great opportunity to bring new capacity to the market and make political risk a significant part of Specialty MGA’s offering.”
In 2021, Willis Towers Watson released its Political Risk Index which revealed that social media had made activist politics more effective and empowered. With just their gadgets, political groups can use modern ways of expressing emotions and influencing others to do the same – with actions ranging from simple objections to more extreme efforts of inciting political violence.
Samuel Wilkin, director of political risk analytics, financial solutions at Willis Towers Watson, said that the insurance industry had been caught off guard by some of the political impacts of new technology.
“Hashtag-enabled protest movements have evolved with extraordinary speed and scale, leading to property damage at a level that we usually don’t associate with social unrest,” he said.
Over the years, insurers have been making efforts to expand and strengthen their political risk divisions. Among them are Hamilton Re, which launched a credit and political risk reinsurance segment last November; Miller which appointed Edward Cheak as head of credit and political risk insurance for the Asian markets, and IQUW which named Andrew Tongue as lead underwriter to oversee its credit and political risk team.
