Hiscox, the London-listed insurer, is close to naming a new chairman nearly eight months after the drowning of Jonathan Bloomer on the luxury yacht of technology tycoon Mike Lynch.
Sky News has learnt that Hiscox has narrowed its search to candidates including Richard Berliand, who chairs the interdealer broker TP ICAP.
Insurance insiders said that Mr Berliand was among fewer than a handful of potential successors to Mr Bloomer.
The sinking of the Bayesian off the Sicilian coast last August claimed the lives of Mr Lynch and his daughter, along with five other passengers, including Mr Bloomer.
A former boss of Prudential, Mr Bloomer was a well-liked figure in the City.
He had chaired Hiscox for just a year when he died.
The identities of the other candidates being considered by the company were unclear on Monday.
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Hiscox, which has a market capitalisation of just over £3.8bn, has seen its shares slip by about 12pc over the last year.
It was founded as a single underwriter at Lloyd’s in 1901.
A Hiscox spokesperson declined to comment.