By Michael Jones

Feb 14 - (The Insurer) - Hamilton Insurance Group has bolstered its marine cargo insurance book with the hire of underwriter Stephen Smyth, senior marine market sources told The Insurer.

Smyth will take up the role of head of cargo in early March, according to two senior marine market sources.

The experienced marine underwriter resigned from his position as SiriusPoint’s head of marine and active underwriter of Syndicate 1945 in November 2024 after just over a year in the role.

He joined SiriusPoint from Travelers, where he had served as managing senior underwriter of marine since December 2020.

Prior to Travelers, he spent 15 years at Beazley, latterly as head of UK regional marine and head of office.

Hamilton’s marine insurance book includes a sizeable marine hull and war book, as well as fine art and specie. Smyth’s hire is part of a further expansion into the cargo class, one senior marine market source said.

This focus on the cargo market follows an influx of capacity into the space over the past year.

MGA Amphitrite Underwriting announced in December that its cargo division had secured $25mn in underwriting capacity, Liberty Specialty Markets' Project Cargo Consortium lifted its capacity to $225mn in January this year, and Cincinnati Global Syndicate 318 is understood to have commenced underwriting marine cargo for the 2025 year of account.

This influx of capacity led to a surprising degree of market softening, said Gallagher Specialty in November. However, the broker said this should not be seen as a return to the soft conditions of 2017.

Hamilton declined to comment.