Three leading insurance market participants have announced senior appointments and expansion initiatives, reflecting continued growth across London’s transactional risk sector, Bermuda’s alternative capital market, and the commercial insurance landscape in Continental Europe.
Gallagher expands capital solutions expertise in London
Gallagher has appointed Laura Repko as senior director, capital solutions, within its Global Private Equity and M&A (PEMA) practice in London.
Repko joins the firm from HSBC, where she served as investment director in direct lending. She brings more than 15 years of corporate finance experience, having previously worked with private equity-focused organisations including Deutsche Bank, Beechbrook Capital and Permira Credit. Her background covers the origination, structuring and execution of financial transactions throughout Europe.
In her newly created position, Repko will focus on developing tailored solutions across a range of lending scenarios, including credit enhancement, working capital financing, regulatory compliance requirements, and capital event-related transactions. She will collaborate closely with Gallagher’s M&A transactional risk and real estate advisory teams.
The appointment comes amid continued strength in the global M&A insurance market. Global private capital deal value reached $2.1 trillion in 2025, marking a four-year high, despite deal volumes declining by approximately 8% compared with 2024. Transactional insurance products, including warranty and indemnity cover, tax insurance, contingent risk solutions and insurance due diligence, have become widely adopted across markets, sectors and transaction sizes. Industry research indicates that 65% of senior dealmakers expect the use of warranty and indemnity insurance to increase during 2025.
Beazley expands alternative risk transfer leadership in Bermuda
Beazley has appointed Stefan Wunderlich as head of alternative risk transfer (ART), adding the role to his existing responsibilities as head of parametric insurance. His relocation to Bermuda remains subject to immigration approval.
Wunderlich joined Beazley in June 2025 after a 20-year career at Swiss Re, where he specialised in the modelling and underwriting of property and natural catastrophe risks.
His expanded responsibilities align with Beazley’s broader Bermuda growth strategy. The company has secured a new office location at Ninety-One, 91 Front Street, through Brookfield Asset Management, with operations expected to begin there in June 2027.
Beazley has committed $500 million in capital to establish a Bermuda-based platform focused on the alternative risk transfer market, including insurance-linked securities (ILS) opportunities. The platform is expected to become operational in early 2026. Future plans include expanding into securitisation and risk transformation services, alongside the launch of a dedicated cyber ILS fund in 2026. If launched as planned, the fund would represent the first cyber-focused ILS strategy available to third-party investors. The Bermuda operation is projected to generate approximately $400 million in premium by 2030.
Sompo launches local operations in Belgium and the Netherlands
Sompo has appointed Bart Van Gysegem as country manager, insurance, for Belgium and the Netherlands, while simultaneously opening new offices in Brussels and Rotterdam as part of its expansion into both markets.
Van Gysegem brings more than three decades of insurance industry experience. He joins from Aon, where he led the Belux major accounts segment as managing director from 2018. Prior to that, he held senior management positions at two major international insurance carriers over a period spanning more than 20 years.
The appointment follows Sompo’s receipt of regulatory licences in March 2025, allowing it to write primary insurance business locally in Belgium and the Netherlands. The move expands the company’s commercial property and casualty capabilities in a region where it already maintains operations in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
The opening of the Brussels and Rotterdam offices represents the operational implementation of those licences, with Van Gysegem responsible for establishing local teams and infrastructure to support the company’s growth strategy across both countries.
