Industry veteran and former XL CEO Brian O’Hara has joined the board of start-up cyber analytics and underwriting firm, Envelop Risk.
Headquartered in London, Envelop Risk launched in April 2018 under the leadership of Jonathan Spry and provides delegated (re)insurance underwriting, and partners with cyber security firms for custom insurance products. Its underwriting and product development capabilities are enabled by a core artificial intelligence model, and augmented intelligence frameworks.
The start-up also has offices in Boston, Washington DC, and Bermuda.
O’Hara served as president and CEO of XL from 1994 until 2008 and as chairman of XL’s board of directors from 2008 to 2009.
In 1986, O’Hara joined XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd as its founding president and COO, having started his insurance career in San Francisco with The Royal Insurance Company and Employers’ Reinsurance Company. Under his leadership, by 2006, XL had revenues of $9.8bn and total assets of $59.3bn.
Welcoming O’Hara’s appointment, which is effective 31 May, Envelop Risk CEO Jonathan Spry said: "Brian’s extraordinary leadership as an executive and director transformed the insurance industry. He is an outstanding addition to our board, and we will benefit greatly from his domain expertise and counsel.
“Brian has helped form the excess casualty market back in the ‘80s while the market was hopelessly unprofitable. Cyber risk has parallels to the casualty markets of the ‘80s in its esoteric nature and growing demand. We will immensely benefit from Brian’s experience in building XL Capital from scratch.”
Meanwhile, O’Hara said: "I am honoured to serve on the Envelop Risk board of directors,"
"Envelop Risk is transforming the cyber insurance and reinsurance market through its innovative AI-based technology that addresses the complexity of cyber risk to more effectively quantify risk and tailor products."
