After three decades in the market, Julie Kimmens knows that insurance is still a people business. As expectations around service continue to rise, it’s the way you handle claims in practice that makes the difference.

When conflict ends, rebuilding begins. But recovery isn't just about clearing rubble or restoring power lines, it's about restoring trust, restarting trade and reconnecting economies to the global system. That process takes capital, coordination and confidence. Insurance sits quietly at the centre of all three.

Starr, a global investment and insurance organisation, has launched a suite of lead market, proprietary Commercial Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O) policy wordings for UK and US public companies, designed to provide brokers and clients with greater certainty, consistency and flexibility in an increasingly complex risk environment.

If you ask James Gilbert what has kept him in the London market for as long as it has, you won’t get a rehearsed career summary. You’ll get the same answer every time, relationships, momentum, and the satisfaction of getting deals done.

If you ask Matt Williams what Starr Consulting Services is really there to do, you won’t get a description of a consulting function. You’ll get a simple idea, give clients practical, pre-loss support that helps manage risk before it becomes a claim.

If you ask Ami Bahia, Governance, Risk & Compliance Director at Starr, what makes governance, risk and compliance interesting, you won’t get a technical answer. Instead, you’ll get a practical one: it’s about enabling teams to achieve their commercial objectives, while maintaining the fundamental principles that ensure the firm maintains that allow the business to operate with confidence.

The rise of the dark fleet is less about individual vessels and more about the risks it creates across the wider market. Trade fragmentation, ageing fleets and increased regulatory scrutiny are all adding complexity to underwriting and claims. Darren Stewart, Marine Claims, explores what sits outside the insurance market is now influencing it in very real ways.

Starr’s new Bermuda reinsurer, IQUW Re Bermuda Limited, today announced that global credit rating AM Best has upgraded its Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit to a+ (Excellent). The outlook for both credit ratings is positive.