Insurance giant Hiscox appoints new chairman after Bayesian tragedy

Insurance giant Hiscox has appointed a new chairman after Jonathan Bloomer died on the Bayesian superyacht.

Senior independent director Colin Keogh will take over on an interim basis.

Bloomer, 70, died when British tech magnate Mike Lynch’s boat was hit by a water tornado off the coast of Sicily.

Six more people were killed, including Bloomer’s wife Judy, Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah, Clifford Chance attorney Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, and yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.

The trip was planned as a celebration of Lynch’s acquittal of fraud charges in the US.

Bloomer, who was also chairman of Morgan Stanley, had served on the board of Hiscox for a year. He was CEO of Prudential from 2000 to 2005 and joined as chief financial officer in 2015.

He was also a director at investment platforms Hargreaves Lansdown and Autonomy, where he became friends with Lynch.

Aki Hussain, CEO of Hiscox, said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the deaths of Jonathan and Judy.

“It has been a privilege to have known Jonathan and to benefit from his generosity and wisdom in his role as Chairman of Hiscox over the past year.”

Prudential said yesterday: “We would not be the company we are today if it weren’t for him. We owe a lot to Jonathan.”

Italian authorities have opened a manslaughter investigation after Monday’s tragedy.

A total of 15 people were rescued, including Lynch’s wife Angela.