HDI strengthens political violence team with Kapoor and Brown appointments

HDI Global UK and Ireland has appointed Ashwin Kapoor as head of political violence and terrorism (PVT) and Tom Brown as underwriting manager, effective 1 December 2026.

Kapoor (pictured) will report to Neil Dave, head of transportation and crisis management, with Brown joining his team.

The PVT team will sit within HDI’s wider crisis management pillar, led by David Palmer as global risk hub leader for crisis management.

Kapoor joins from Aviva, where he was head of PVT.

He brings more than a decade of experience in the political violence market, including previous underwriting and leadership roles at Chubb and Marsh.

Brown also joins from Aviva, where he was terrorism and political violence underwriting manager, having previously held underwriting roles at Chubb and Allianz.

HDI said the appointments will support further expansion of its political violence and terrorism portfolio and strengthen its broader Crisis Management capabilities across political violence, product recall and kidnap and ransom.

Simon Hunt, CEO of HDI Global UK and Ireland, said: “Expanding our PVT team is an important step in delivering our Xcelerate29 strategy, strengthening our specialist underwriting proposition and enhancing the service we provide to brokers and clients.

“Ashwin and Tom bring significant market experience and technical expertise, and their appointments reinforce our ambition to grow profitably across our target business lines.”

Palmer said: “PVT is a dynamic and increasingly important area of risk for many organisations.

“Ashwin and Tom are both highly respected underwriters with excellent market reputations and proven experience in this specialist sector.”

He added: “Their appointments significantly strengthen our capabilities, increase our underwriting capacity and support further growth within our wider Crisis Management pillar, while maintaining our disciplined underwriting approach.”