Liberty International Underwriters Europe (LIU Europe), a division of Liberty Mutual, has made two senior hires in its Madrid office, as it looks to grow its Energy underwriting and Construction capabilities in Spain and Portugal.
Jose Luis Ruiz-Poveda has been appointed to the role of Vice President and Head of Marine, Energy and Construction, Spain, while Leonardo Villalba has been appointed as Senior Risk Engineer. Both bring new Energy underwriting and engineering expertise to LIU Europe’s Spanish operation.
Reporting to Mike Gosselin, Senior Vice President, Marine, Energy and Construction, and to Fernando Lara, who heads up LIU Europe’s Spanish operation, Jose Luis Ruiz-Poveda brings with him twenty years of experience of Energy underwriting with major insurance companies in Spain and holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
Leonardo Villalba joins the company from Fluor where he was an engineer and project manager; prior to this he worked for Tecnicas Reunidas as a process engineer. Leonardo holds a degree in chemical engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid.
Commenting on the appointments, Mike Gosselin said: “By attracting new talent to our Madrid office, we are continuing to enhance our regional offering to brokers through the combination of technical skills and specific knowledge of the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
“Jose Luis and Leonardo’s appointments give our Spanish operation its first local Energy underwriting and Construction presence, helping us to extend our product lines throughout Continental Europe in line with our expansion strategy.”
