Daniel Johnson & Lydia Lambert
· Power duo
· Cyber evangelists
· Entrepreneurs
Batman and Robin, Thelma and Louise, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The names of well-known power duos trip off the tongue but it’s time to add one more pairing to the list. Dan Johnson and Lydia Lambert, the team at the heart of AEGIS London’s cyber offering. They’ve been at AEGIS London for a year and have already built a reputation for solid, sustainable underwriting. But the origins of this partnership stretch back long before AEGIS London.
It’s eight years since Dan and Lydia first met and started their cyber journey together at insurer AIG. Lydia picks up the story. “Dan was super helpful, knowledgeable, and incredible efficient – always willing to go the extra mile.”
Dan’s memory of the meeting tallies with Lydia’s. “What was clear was her abundance of energy and curiosity– like a Duracell bunny. She progressed very quickly through the ranks, ruffling a few feathers, but in a good way – and was part of a massive success story.”
Thus began a professional relationship that has seen the duo build a strong portfolio of excess of loss cyber business.
Dan’s career began five years prior to their fateful meeting when he started an internship with AIG which, after some toing and froing, saw him focus on cyber. A brief stint with broker Aon proved unsatisfying for Dan, so he rejoined AIG and Lydia, with the duo going on to rebuild the team and enjoy considerable success over the next 3–4 years. Over time Dan and Lydia began to develop their own views on the future of cyber and independently started to consider other opportunities.
“I wanted to keep my toe in underwriting,” Dan recalls, “but also create something new. I was offered a lot of start-ups but when I spoke to AEGIS London, right from day one, there was an alignment of visions. I made it clear it wasn’t about growing a big book rapidly. I wanted to do something that was sustainable in the long-term, not just hitting short-term targets. AEGIS London felt the same way.”
With Dan newly ensconced at AEGIS London, Lydia found herself looking for a new challenge. Having only worked at AIG, she was keen to experience other working environments and, like Dan, wanted to develop a new book of business. AEGIS
London’s long-term outlook and holistic strategy was appealing. From Lydia’s perspective, it offered the opportunity to be more creative, more entrepreneurial. “It’s not just about hitting numbers, it’s about using our expertise to grow the book in a sustainable way,” she says.
In April 2024, Lydia followed in Dan’s footsteps, moving to AEGIS London to create a new cyber team with its own philosophy and approach. Their starting point was a five-year plan writing follow lines in excess of fifty million – pounds, dollars or euros – growing slowly and building trust with brokers. Within 4–5 years, the team wants to begin writing primary layers.
“Our appetite is very broad,” says Dan. “Being such a new class, in cyber no one can say this is definitively the way to do things. We’re not about generically black boxing. We don’t want to write anything and everything. Instead, we want to consider each risk on its merits.”
In preparation for their move into primary cover, Dan and Lydia are developing relationships with third-party vendors – for example, breach response services, legal services. “Right now, as an excess follow player, we don’t need a vendor panel. But as we look to move to primary, we will. It’s about forging those relationships now with businesses that are aligned with us. So, when we make the move, we’ve already established those solid working relationships.”
When it comes to clients, geography is no limitation for Dan and Lydia but mindset is. Asked to describe their ideal client, the pair have well-formed views. “It’s about their mentality,” says Lydia. “We’re keen to work with clients who are proactive, who are willing to continually invest in their security infrastructure. Yes, they may have suffered a cyber incident but if they’ve got the right mindset and willingness to improve controls, that’s a huge part of it.”
Supporting clients is a major part of their offering, according to Dan. “It’s not just about providing insurance; it’s about supporting a client through the cycle. We want to understand their security and help them improve it, if we can.”
Spending time with Dan and Lydia, it’s apparent they’re not cut from the same cloth. While sharing common ideas about the nature of cyber and how to build a sustainable book of business, they are far from clones of each other. If anything, they are two sides of the same coin. Different but connected.
“We have our own viewpoints and stories, but we reach the same end goal,” says Lydia. “It’s just that we’ve taken different routes to get there - we definitely keep each other on our toes.”
Dan nods. “The best way to be a team is to challenge each other. That’s how you grow. We don’t simply gravitate towards the status quo. AEGIS London has allowed us to be entrepreneurial, be creative and build that sustainable book.”
Working as a close-knit team has its challenges but Dan and Lydia have navigated these deftly over the years. They’re comfortable in each other’s company yet each brings something quite different to the working relationship. Without doubt, the whole they create, is greater than the sum of the parts. And isn’t that the test of all great power duos?