Global (re)insurer Hiscox has announced the appointment of Joanne Musselle as its new group chief underwriting officer, following the retirement of Richard Watson. She will step into the role at the end of 2019 and join the Hiscox Ltd Board as an executive director in February 2020.

Musselle has been with the company for 17 years having joined in 2002 as a technical underwriting manager for professions and specialty commercial lines. Since then she has held several senior roles at the firm and currently serves as chief underwriting officer (CUO) for Hiscox Retail.

In her current role, Joanne is responsible for all retail underwriting across the Hiscox Group, including Hiscox UK, Hiscox Europe, Hiscox USA, Hiscox Special Risks and Hiscox Asia. In the last two years, she has overseen profitable growth in GWP of almost 25% across the retail portfolio and helped our retail businesses to navigate increased volumes of regulatory change.

Bronek Masojada, Hiscox group CEO, said: “After a thorough search where we considered a number of strong internal and external candidates, I am pleased to appoint Joanne as our next Group Chief Underwriting Officer. Joanne’s deep understanding of our business and experience of managing underwriting portfolios in our key markets will be critical for our next stage of growth. She has overseen strong, profitable growth in our retail casualty and property portfolios and has confidently led the business through a number of changes in course when market conditions have been tough. Joanne’s commerciality, long-term view and ability to challenge will make her a valuable member of our Executive team.” 

Musselle added: “Profitable underwriting is the backbone of Hiscox and I could not be more delighted to serve the Group in this broader role. Being part of the evolution of Hiscox over the last 17 years has given me many experiences and opportunities across the whole of our business and I am excited to be taking up this next challenge.”