Insurance intermediary Nexus Group has partnered with US insurer Crum & Forster (C&F) and Dublin-based Hamilton to set up a platform in London, bringing in two industry veterans to build out its credit and political risk insurance capabilities.

Joining the partnership as head of international credit and political risk is David Wright, who moves from Ryan Specialty Group. Wright’s two decades of underwriting leadership experience also includes a stint as head of political risk and political violence at Lloyd’s of London carrier Antares.

Meanwhile, Steve Powney has been appointed as head of international surety business for the partnership. He joins from AIG, where he was most recently Emea region and global surety product head, and has more than 30 years’ industry experience.

Commenting on the two new hires, Colin Thompson, CEO of Nexus Group, says: “We are delighted to enter into this partnership with C&F, which has become an important capacity supporter to Nexus over recent years. We are pleased to welcome David and Steve to Nexus and look forward to working closely with C&F to grow this proposition.”

The new partnership will target UK and European-based insureds, as well as expand Nexus Group’s surety business to target reverse-flow opportunities and select European surety risks.

The underwriters retained by Nexus will trade under the name Crum & Forster International. The fronting capacity for the business in the UK and the EU will be provided by Hamilton, while the business will be fully reinsured by C&F.