Jamie Sahara, President of Applied Underwriters, has announced leadership appointments at United Risk, naming Alex Amezquita as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Jay Cahill as CEO of United Risk’s newly formed reinsurance division.

These appointments are intended to support the continued growth of the United Risk group.

United Risk, a division of Applied Underwriters, is an international property and casualty insurance underwriting and distribution platform.

Amezquita succeeds Cahill as CFO and will oversee the financial operations across United Risk’s various divisions in key insurance, surety, and other specialty areas.

He brings 17 years of experience in finance, most recently serving as CFO of Herbalife for over six years. Prior to that, Amezquita was Senior Vice President at Moelis & Company and also held roles at Centerview Partners, Merrill Lynch, ARA Solutions, among others.

Cahill transitions to CEO of United Risk’s newly formed multi-line reinsurance MGA, after serving as United Risk’s CFO since April 2024.

He will focus on serving brokers, cedents, and other clients across property, casualty, cyber, and credit risk, underwriting selected placements for the June, July, and October 2025 renewals. He will also lead the establishment of fully operational offices in New York, London, and Bermuda ahead of the January 1, 2026 placements.

Prior to joining United Risk, Cahill served as Managing Director of Underwriting at Awbury, responsible for ceded reinsurance, third-party capital, specialty and professional lines, property retro underwriting, and new business development.

He also spent 11 years at RenaissanceRe, most recently as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Credit & Financial Lines.

Sahara commented, “These key appointments underline the direction United Risk is taking as our dramatic growth across and within the various sectors we underwrite rapidly continues. We assemble top professional talent, and then we encourage them to lead in the specific area in which their considerable experience, accomplishment, and market intelligence lies.

“In Alex Amezquita we have a dynamic, driven financial leader with the serious hands-on experience of running complex businesses, from M&A to managing a global public company. In that same vein, Jay Cahill brings a lot of additional energy to our underwriting team, adding substantially to the combined power of the existing 28 thriving programs.

“United Risk’s program leaders have driven growth and adapted to actual market changes and challenges quickly and creatively. As the reinsurance market hardens, like our continuing and successful E&S strategy, when it makes sense, we will focus on offering reinsurance rather than insurance. This is a plan that Jay Cahill is uniquely qualified to execute.”

Amezquita stated, “This is an important opportunity allowing me to engage all of my experience and skills in an organisation with strong and disciplined fundamentals that is building ambitiously upon a firm foundation. The future of United Risk is extremely promising, and I am pleased to join the team that will realise it.”

Cahill noted, “The hard reinsurance market poses challenges together with great opportunities for those with the right resources and a staff with ease and facility in deploying them. This will be the advantage our growing of the United Risk team will deliver.”

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