AmTrust readies itself for growing cyber demand

AmTrust Financial Services has made two hires to its cyber team as it expands its offering in expectation of growing demand.

Jeffrey Batt and Michelle Ingrassia both join AmTrust’s cyber insurance team, with the specialty property and casualty insurer indicating it is developing a suite of cyber solutions for a range of small businesses that will be unveiled later this year.

Batt becomes vice president and AMTrust’s head of cyber strategy and innovation, responsible for its engagement with customers and business partners and creating risk solutions. Ingrassia is named vice president of cyber product and underwriting management at AmTrust and oversees AmTrust’s cyber insurance offerings.

Batt joins from M&T Bank where he was the cyber insurance practice leader. He was previously vice president in Marsh’s cyber practice and from 2010-2016 was an associate deputy general counsel at the US Department of Defense.

Ingrassia joins after seven years with Beazley where she was most recently an attorney for its cyber and tech division. Before that she was with The Falcigno Group (now TFG Insurance Specialties) in Connecticut.

Both new starters report to Aaron Basilius, senior vice president for cyber, who joined AmTrust in July 2020 from Munich Re where he was head of cyber for North America for its large risk corporate division.

Basilius noted that the growing AmTrust cyber team draws on many years of broad practical experience in the dynamic global cyber insurance market.

“In the last year, with cyberattacks and data breaches on the rise, we have seen the demand for cyber insurance grow dramatically, especially in AmTrust’s core small business market,” he said.