Capsicum Re strengthens cyber team with Lockton hire

Specialist reinsurance broker Capsicum Re has hired Vlad Polyakov, a former Lockton executive, into its cyber team.

Polyakov will be responsible for developing new products and bringing additional reinsurance capacity into the market.

Based in London, he will also work with Arthur J Gallagher’s cyber team to look at growth opportunities in this area and will report to Ian Newman, a partner at Capsicum Re.

Polyakov joins from Lockton where he served as assistant vice president in the global technology and privacy practice.

Newman said: “As cyber threats continue to evolve and we become increasingly dependent on technology, there is a growing concern about the protection and security of data. As a result, the cyber insurance market is seeing an unprecedented level of interest from customers but there is insufficient capacity available to meet this increasing demand.

“Our focus is on building a specialist team and utilising their insight and expertise to make more capacity available to the market and help our customers take advantage of this growing class.

“Vlad’s valuable experience in this class and depth of expertise complements the knowledge we have within the team. He is well known in the market and his appointment enhances our reputation as the go-to cyber reinsurance broker.”

Polyakov added: “Capsicum Re is arguably the leading cyber reinsurance broker so I am delighted to be working with them. The cyber market is growing rapidly and with significant updates to EU privacy legislation expected next autumn demand shows little signs of decreasing.

“This presents numerous opportunities and we must focus on delivering innovative products that respond to customers’ needs."