The Political Risk Podcast

Geopolitics, insured. An independent podcast, focused on geopolitics and insurance markets, serving risk professionals, leaders and decision makers in specialty insurance and beyond. Join journalist and host David Benyon for an exclusive guest list mixing senior brokers and underwriters from the world of specialty insurance with wider geopolitical expertise from authors, academics, analysts and diplomats.

The Political Risk Podcast is a business podcast hosted by David Benyon, with 74 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

David Benyon hosts The Political Risk Podcast, a business show with 74 episodes published.

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  Episode #74

  Financing Africa: Banks, Insurers and the New Geopolitics of Capital

  Jul 29, 202627 minS1

  Sub-Saharan Africa’s government financing landscape has been transformed by credit markets, changing geopolitics, and new sources of capital. This special episode, produced in association with Mosaic Insurance, features Katharine Villers, political risk underwriter and head of commercial finance at Mosaic, and Nick James, director, structured finance at ICBC Standard Bank. They explore how the continent’s financing system has evolved, the changing geopolitics of capital, and the role that banks and insurers are playing in supporting investment and development.

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  Episode #73

  From Events to Insights: Learning from PVT and SRCC events; with Verisk live at Lloyd’s

  Jul 23, 202630 minS1

  How can political violence and terrorism insurers turn recent events into better underwriting insights? Recorded live at Lloyd’s during Verisk’s “Insuring Political Violence, SRCC, and Terrorism Forum”, this special episode brings together Alex Baker of Chaucer, Guy Burrows of Inigo and Torbjorn Soltvedt of Verisk Maplecroft. The panel explores the underwriting lessons emerging from recent geopolitical events, including the 2026 Iran war, changing targeting patterns and the sparks that can trigger strikes, riots and civil commotion. The discussion also examines data quality, predictive modelling, portfolio resilience, hybrid conflict, claims information and the tools underwriters need to navigate an increasingly complex political violence landscape.

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  Episode #72

  Strikes, Riots and Civil Commotion: The Emerging Portfolio Peril

  Jul 16, 202638 minS1

  Strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC) have moved from the margins of property and political violence portfolios into sharper focus for insurers and their reinsurers. This special episode with Lockton Re features senior catastrophe modeller George Wragg and consultant Paul Upton, along with Blackthorn head of advisory Jerry Smith. They discuss why the SRCC threat is important, the sociopolitical forces driving social unrest, how SRCC losses can accumulate across insurer portfolios, and the serious data and analytics challenges that face the early attempts at SRCC catastrophe risk modelling.

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  Episode #70

  Mobilising Capital: Credit and Political Risk Insurance and the Future of Global Investment, with AXA XL's Rafael Docavo Malvezzi

  Jun 4, 202636 minS1

  Credit and political risk insurance has become a critical tool for mobilising capital into complex markets, supporting trade, investment and development finance through a period of heightened geopolitical and credit uncertainty. In this episode, Rafael Docavo-Malvezzi, global chief underwriting officer, political risk credit and bond at AXA XL, discusses the credit cycle, underwriting challenges, development finance and the role of the private market in supporting global investment. He also reflects on his career across risk management, economics and insurance, as well as his role as vice president of the Berne Union.

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  Episode #69

  Choke Points & Geopolitical Risk: Resilience Building for Supply Chains in Crisis; in association with Gallagher Specialty

  May 26, 202638 minS1

  Geopolitical risk is putting global supply chains under renewed pressure, with the Strait of Hormuz crisis adding to existing concerns around trade disruption, tariffs and fragile logistics networks. Alec Russell, managing director, cargo for Arthur J Gallagher International, and Alex Vile, associate consultant, threat intelligence at AnotherDay, a Gallagher company, discuss how organisations are responding to supply chain risk in theory and practice. The conversation explores the immediate impact of Gulf tensions, the structural weaknesses exposed by recent disruption, and the role of insurance, crisis consulting and threat intelligence in building resilience. With nine-in-ten businesses experiencing a supply chain loss, this special episode, produced in association with Gallagher Specialty, examines what companies can do to prepare for the next crisis.

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