Richard Abizaid

VP & Senior Underwriter at MSIG USA

Richard Abizaid, Vice President and Senior Underwriter, joined MSIG USA July 2024. Previously, he was with Vantage Risk Companies where he was also Vice President and Senior Underwriter.

Before Vantage Risk Companies, Richard worked at AXA XL (formerly XL Catlin) where he was the Head of the Americas for Political Risk, Credit, and Bond. In this capacity, he led a team of underwriters in New York; Washington, DC; Toronto; and Hamilton, Bermuda.

Prior to AXA XL, Richard worked at Zurich where he held several roles including, Assistant Vice President, Vice President & Deputy Regional Manager, Senior Vice President & Head of Asia, and Senior Vice President & Head of the Americas. He also spent significant time in Asia where he was based in Singapore for five years.

Richard also held several roles in the US government including Asia Country Manager at the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and Director of the Political Risk Insurance Eurasia Team at the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), now known as the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Richard holds a Master of Arts degree in International Transactions from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Near East Studies from the University of Arizona in Tucson.