Appointment of Richard Hooks as Managing Director, Upstream Energy

London, 24 August 2026 – Clearwater Underwriting the leading specialty MGA, has appointed Richard Hooks as Managing Director, Upstream Energy, as it continues to expand its specialist underwriting platform into new lines of business.

Richard will lead the establishment and growth of Clearwater’s Upstream Energy offering, building a dedicated proposition for brokers and clients and supporting the business’s strategy to expand across a broader range of specialty and niche classes.

He joins Clearwater from Tokio Marine Kiln, where he spent more than 20 years, most recently as Departmental Head of Marine & Energy. He brings extensive technical underwriting expertise across energy and marine, as well as deep relationships across the international specialty market.

Richard will be responsible for developing the Upstream Energy portfolio, with a focus on combining technical underwriting expertise with the agility and responsiveness of the MGA model. The business will seek to provide brokers with a specialist alternative in a highly technical class, supported by Clearwater’s underwriting capabilities, technology and strong capacity partnerships.

Richard Hooks, Managing Director, Upstream Energy at Clearwater Underwriting, said: “Upstream Energy remains a highly technical market, as the risks, technologies and capital behind it continue to evolve. That makes experience, underwriting judgement, and a willingness to consider risk differently critical to a successful energy insurance offering. What attracted me to Clearwater was the opportunity to create an underwriting proposition with those fundamentals at its core, while having the flexibility to respond quickly to brokers and clients. It’s a rare opportunity to build a business from the ground up within an ambitious underwriting platform, and I am delighted to be joining the team.”

Richard Young, Chief Underwriting Officer at Clearwater Underwriting added: “Upstream Energy is a market where technical expertise and underwriting judgement are particularly important, given the complexity and scale of the risks involved. Richard brings decades of experience across energy and marine, together with a detailed understanding of how this market is changing. His appointment allows us to enter Upstream Energy with a clear focus on disciplined underwriting and long-term portfolio quality, while giving brokers the responsiveness and flexibility that are central to the Clearwater model.”

ENDS