Insurance broker Marsh has formed a global public agency team within its political risk and trade credit practice.

Marsh’s new team will help its clients to access insurance products from public bilateral and multilateral agencies, and export credit agencies.

The team was formed in response to the increasing demand from project developers, investors and exporters for public agency funding and political risk and trade credit insurance, Marsh says.

The risks of payment defaults and corporate failures, due to the global financial crisis, are continuing to fuel demand for more trade credit insurance, says Julie Martin, Marsh’s political risk practice senior vice-president and leader of the new public agency team.

“The public sector has always been a major provider of political risk and trade credit insurance, but is often overlooked by organisations until the risk landscape worsens and the need for more insurance grows,” says “In some cases, public insurance coverage is the only option for insuring challenging risks − especially those in the most volatile regions of the world.”

The team will be based in Washington, New York, London, Toronto, Paris, Mumbai, and Singapore.