New chief underwriting officer for Markel’s Indian operations

Priyanka Gautama has been appointed as chief underwriting officer for Markel’s Indian operations, subject to regulatory approval. Operating from Markel’s Mumbai office, Gautama will collaborate with leadership teams across multiple geographies and product lines to develop bespoke insurance solutions for clients.

Markel said Gautama will play an instrumental role in the enhancement of the Markel India product suite, and particularly in the development of a new casualty portfolio. She will also be responsible for core underwriting strategies and decision making, helping to drive profitability across the organisation’s portfolios. In her new role, she will report directly to Deepika Mathur, managing director of Markel, India.

Gautama brings 20 years of experience in the domestic market, with cross-functional experience and expertise across casualty and financial lines. Prior to joining Markel, she was senior vice-president of liability underwriting and claims at insurance firm, HDFC ERGO. Before this, she spent more than 11 years working for TATA AIG General Insurance, where she started out as a key relationship manager and progressed to associate vice-president, commercial lines.

Mathur said: “Markel India has made remarkable progress since opening its office in Mumbai in 2017. Since then, we’ve established the Markel brand in our specialist markets by forging strong relationships with customers and stakeholders, as well as enhancing our systems and service capabilities to support brokers more effectively.”

She added: “Priyanka’s arrival demonstrates Markel’s commitment to hiring high-level underwriting talent that allows us to address the risk and insurance needs of our local clients and brokers. With her extensive experience and expertise, I’m confident Priyanka will help take our underwriting operations to new heights as we position ourselves for further profitable growth.”