The prestigious winners of InsuranceERM's UK & Europe awards 2026 have been announced.
These awards recognise insurers, teams, initiatives and vendors that are leaders in risk management, risk modelling and risk technology in the UK and Europe.
It was a stellar year for Canopius as its chief risk officer (CRO) Sheldon Lacy was crowned CRO of the year. The team at Canopius also won the risk team of the year. Both awards recognised support for a growing business, delivering measurable improvements in risk culture, and championing talent and inclusion.
Owen Balmont from Admiral Group won young risk professional of the year, while Katie Garner at LCP picked up the actuarial professional of the year award.
Balmont stood out for his forward-looking approach, collaborative mindset and ability to remain composed under pressure. Garner, meanwhile, wanted to be an actuary from an early age, and she is now a senior consultant and team leader at actuarial consultancy LCP.
Funded reinsurance provider of the year went to RGA, distinguishing itself as a market leader in the space, and particularly in Continental Europe, exemplified by its recent transactions with Allianz Suisse and with Baloise Belgium.
It was marvellous year for Decision Focus, with victories in three categories: ERM end-to-end solution of the year; operational risk solution of the year; and third-party risk solutions provider of the year.
LCP also secured the treble. In addition to winning the young actuarial professional of the year title, it picked up actuarial modelling solution of the year, the diversity and inclusion excellence award, and pension risk transfer deal of the year.
InsuranceERM's deputy editor and commercial editor, Ronan McCaughey, thanked the independent panel of judges for their time, effort and expertise in selecting the winners, as well as everyone who submitted entries.
McCaughey said: "An InsuranceERM award carries particular significance because it is judged by experts who understand both the complexity and the impact of the work being recognised. Congratulations to all our winners and highly commended entrants, and sincere thanks to our judging panel for maintaining the integrity and high standards of these awards."
The full list of the 2026 winners is below:
Individuals
- Chief risk officer of the year: Sheldon Lacy, Canopius Group
- Young actuarial professional of the year: Katie Garner, LCP
- Young risk professional of the year: Owen Balmont, Admiral Group
Teams
Companies
- Actuarial consultancy of the year: WTW
- Diversity and inclusion excellence: LCP
- Diversity and inclusion excellence: Highly Commended, 4most
- Funded reinsurance provider of the year: RGA
- Insurtech innovation of the year: ChainThat
- Pension risk transfer deal of the year: LCP
- Risk innovation of the year: Barnett Waddingham
- Risk consultancy of the year: Crowe UK
Technology
- Actuarial modelling solution of the year: LCP
- ALM solution of the year: Fentics
- Analytics solution of the year: CyberCube
- Best use of cloud technology: Moody's
- Catastrophe risk modelling solution of the year: Verisk
- Cyber risk solution of the year: KYND
- Data solution of the year: Aon, Impact Forecasting
- Data solution of the year: Highly Commended, Resolve
- ERM end-to-end solution of the year: Decision Focus
- ESG (Economic Scenario Generator) software of the year: Milliman
- Operational risk solution of the year: Decision Focus
- Regulatory reporting software of the year: WTW
- Reserving solution of the year: Dynamo Analytics
- Solvency II solution of the year: Moody's
- Stress scenarios software of the year: Moody's
- Third-party risk solutions provider of the year: Decision Focus
How the awards were judged
An independent panel of Judges reviewed the entries submitted and then voted in a secret ballot. The votes were counted and verified by InsuranceERM's team.
The judges are senior risk, insurance and actuarial industry experts from Europe and the UK, each chosen for their knowledge and objectivity.
The judges' decision is final and neither InsuranceERM nor the judging panel will enter into any correspondence regarding individual entries and/or the award winners.
