London’s leading cyber and casualty underwriters revealed in new poll

Brit Global Specialty’s Ben Maidment has regained the number one position in the Gracechurch Leading London Underwriters Cyber Ranking, The Insurer can reveal.

Maidment was voted the leading London cyber underwriter by his peers in the broking and underwriting community for the second time in three years, having previously been voted the leading cyber underwriter in 2018.

The executive, who also finished second in the poll in 2019, has led Brit’s cyber underwriting team since joining the firm in 2007 and is a founding member of the Lloyd’s Market Association’s Cyber Business Panel.

He held off the challenge of Axis’ global head of cyber Dan Trueman, who finished second in this year’s cyber ranking.

Trueman was joined by another Axis representative, James Creasy, in the top three.

The top three ranking for both Trueman and Creasy meant Axis ranked as the leading London market insurer in the survey in terms of ‘bench strength’, ahead of Brit in second place.

Hiscox also enjoyed a strong showing in this year’s ranking, with two underwriters – Andrew Lewis and Matthew Webb – placing in the top 10.

Apollo and Arch underwriters lead casualty ranking

Apollo’s Chris Moore rose from fifth place in 2019 to jointly lead the 2020 casualty ranking alongside last year’s top-ranked underwriter James Mecham, who retained his position following his move from Chaucer to Arch.

Aegis’ Christopher Terry, Convex’s Dervla Lynchehaun and a second representative from Apollo, Nicholas Gibbs, make up the top five.

While it did not have any individual underwriters ranked in the top 10 for casualty, QBE ranked highest for ‘bench strength’ based on its overall number of nominations.

A survey on professional indemnity (PI) underwriters has ranked Matt Waghorn, who moved from Vibe to Argenta in early 2020, as the leading underwriter.

London’s top three PI underwriters also include Brit’s Jonathan Mudd and Aegis’ Nick Leighton, according to the Gracechurch ranking. Leighton was ranked leading PI underwriter in last year’s poll.

As reported yesterday, MAP’s Richard Trubshaw has retained his position at the top of the overall Gracechurch ranking of London underwriters.

Trubshaw has topped the overall London Leading Underwriter ranking poll, conducted by London research consultancy Gracechurch, every year since it began six years ago.

Munich Re’s James Grainger ranked as leading energy underwriter, with Chubb’s David Kirk leading the marine rankings.

London’s Leading Underwriters rankings: how the results are calculated

The London’s Leading Underwriters rankings are calculated through two surveys conducted by Gracechurch Consulting – the Gracechurch London Underwriting Monitor, which surveys producing and placing brokers, and the London’s Leading Underwriters Survey, which seeks the view of the underwriting community.

The surveys, which are conducted according to Market Research Society professional guidelines, were conducted between May and December 2020 and generated more than 1,400 nominations covering approximately 750 individual underwriters. Representatives from more than 150 businesses participated in the surveys with underwriters ranked according to the number of mentions within a particular business class, based on the extent to which they are respected for being market leaders.

Nominators are asked to select any underwriter, regardless of seniority. Underwriter names are not prompted so that respondents can freely name any underwriters from any London market insurer, other than their own.

The longlist of underwriters who have been nominated and the lines of business in which they operate is then validated by their employers.

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