Liberty International Underwriters Europe (LIU Europe) has hired Mark Esdaile as assistant vice president in its trade credit and political risk team.

Esdaile will be based at LIU Europe’s London headquarters in Minster Court.

In his new role, Esdaile will report to LIU Europe’s head of trade credit and political risk Matthew Woollam.

LIU Europe’s trade credit and political risk team underwrites trade and investment risks worldwide from its bases in London and Paris and will focus on industrial companies, commodity traders and financial institutions involved in emerging markets.

Woollam said that despite some fairly challenging market conditions, LIU Europe’s trade credit and political risk account has been growing well.

"We also expanded our presence in mainland Europe two years ago with a dedicated resource in our Paris office," Woollam said.

"It’s against this backdrop of managed expansion that we’ve appointed Mark to strengthen the team and give us some really valuable insights into the broking side of the market."