Brendan Plessis departs AXA XL for Sompo International

Sompo International, the Bermuda headquartered specialty property and casualty insurance and reinsurance provider, has made a high-profile hire in Brendan Plessis, a well known market executive who has had a focus on issues in emerging markets and on the problem of under-insurance for much of his career.

Plessis has joined Sompo International in the role of Executive Vice President, Strategic Distribution & Development.

His career spans both broking and underwriting sides of the market, across insurance and reinsurance, with time spent working in the UK, across a number of locations in Asia and in Bermuda.

On the broking side, Plessis has held roles with Willis Re and Gallagher Re in Bermuda, as well as Guy Carpenter in Singapore where he led multi-national and retrocession business for key Asian markets.

Plessis joined XL Catlin in mid-2015 to take on a newly created role of Head of Emerging Markets, tasked with driving new global expansion opportunities.

This role led Plessis into the world of under-insurance and the protection gap, seeing him work closely with multi-lateral and sovereign organisations on risk transfer and insurance solutions around the globe.

He remained Head of Emerging Markets for AXA XL, after AXA acquired XL Catlin and continued to work in the global sphere, more recently taking on a role of Head of Strategic Business Development in AXA XL’s Reinsurance division at the beginning of 2020.

Plessis has a wealth of expertise, not just in traditional insurance and reinsurance risk transfer, but also in innovative solutions such as parametric risk transfer, as well as use of capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity.

His insights into the issue of the protection gap and how the ILS market can assist in narrowing it have been central to discussions at a number of our conferences over the years.

His new role at Sompo International is designed to promote expansion and growth for the firm’s key business regions.

Julian James, CEO of International Insurance at Sompo International, commented on Plessis’ hire, “Delighted to welcome Brendan Plessis to the team today. Our goal is to expand our London, European and Bermuda business significantly in the near term, and Brendan’s depth and breadth of experience in both underwriting and broking firms, across a variety of markets, will be a great asset to us as we go forward.”

He also noted that, “As we continue our ongoing transformation and the significant expansion of our London, European and Bermuda platforms in the near term, Brendan’s depth and breadth of experience in both underwriting and broking businesses across a variety of markets will be a great asset to our growth. While our brokers and clients recognize that Sompo International is a global leader with significant capability and excellent talent, we must continue to reach a wider range of audiences to deliver on our ambitions.

“Clients want and need business partners with the global scale, appetite and expertise to help successfully manage existing and new landscapes of risks. Sompo International has the wherewithal to be that partner.”