Sompo International has moved to expand its Australian operation by recruiting a team of specialists from US-listed Everest Group’s local arm.

Sompo has had a local presence for 60 years, but this has mostly focused on Japanese accounts in Australia, and today's announcement marks a significant expansion into a range of specialty products.

The commercial and consumer insurer – a subsidiary of Japan’s Sompo Holdings – says the hires “bring established expertise across property, casualty, financial lines, energy and construction”.

The team will be based in Sydney and Melbourne, reporting to Asia-Pacific president of commercial property and casualty lines Paul O’Neill, who will oversee the Australian business.

“By investing in an established and highly respected team and focusing on growth opportunities aligned with our core business strengths, we will support clients, brokers and our other business partners while ensuring seamless operations and compliance with local regulations,” Mr O’Neill said.

He says the team’s “expertise, combined with our collective ambition to deliver impactful solutions, positions us strongly from day one”.

The recruits from Everest are Andrew Lester, head of property; Matthew O’Brien, head of casualty; Arthur Constantinou, head of energy and construction; Josh Luk, head of financial lines; Michael McCarthy, casualty senior underwriter; Chris Charnock, financial lines senior underwriter; and Warwick Hansen, financial lines senior underwriter.

Another two new hires will join in the coming months.

Mr O’Neill said: “Sompo has been operating in Australia for more than 60 years and today’s expansion represents another important step towards building a diversified global property and casualty platform with strong positions in the markets that matter most to our clients and broker partners.

“Ensuring we are regionally aligned and locally empowered will help us drive scale, materiality and sustainable profitability.”