New York, NY – Falcon Risk Services (Falcon), a leading specialty insurance solutions provider and an HDI company, today announced the promotion of John Merchant to Chief Underwriting Officer, effective January 1, 2026. Merchant was the first employee to join Falcon in October 2021 and has been instrumental in the company’s rapid growth and evolution within the U.S. specialty insurance market.
As Chief Underwriting Officer, John Merchant oversees Falcon’s Cyber, Professional Liability, and Management Liability lines and is responsible for setting the overall underwriting direction of the business. His expanded role brings the company’s underwriting organization under a unified leadership structure, strengthening alignment and collaboration across product lines. Merchant will also continue to advance the integration of proprietary technology and data analytics into Falcon’s underwriting processes.
“John was Falcon’s inaugural employee and has played a pivotal role in our evolution from a fledgling start-up to a high-growth specialty leader,” said Craig Landi, Founder and CEO of Falcon Risk Services. “He has demonstrated a deep commitment to building a premier specialty insurance platform. John’s broad insurance product knowledge, gained over decades in the industry, makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Chief Underwriting Officer.”
Over more than 20 years, Merchant has successfully scaled profitable portfolios and led specialty divisions at Nationwide and Hartford Financial Products. His background also includes a pivotal tenure at modeling and analytics start-up Cyence Risk Analytics, an experience that has helped shape his approach at Falcon, where he has been instrumental in developing differentiated underwriting tools that significantly enhance efficiency and decision-making.
“John understands what it takes to build a specialty insurance business while partnering closely with HDI Group,” Landi added. “His long-standing and diverse distribution relationships position Falcon to continue developing innovative insurance products that respond to the evolving needs of today’s business environment.”
“While this is a significant professional milestone, this promotion reflects the incredible team we have assembled at Falcon,” said John Merchant, Chief Underwriting Officer at Falcon Risk Services. “We have built this company from the ground up together, and I am honored to lead our underwriting organization as we continue to innovate for our broker partners.”
Merchant is based in New York and is an alumnus of the University of Connecticut.
About Falcon Risk Services
Falcon Risk Services, an HDI Company, is a leading provider of specialty underwriting and claims solutions. As part of the Talanx Group, Germany's third-largest insurer, Falcon combines extensive experience with data-driven analysis to address emerging risks across a wide range of products and market segments.
Falcon is headquartered in New York City, with operations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, and San Francisco.
About HDI Global
Corporate & Specialty lines insurer HDI Global (HDI) meets the needs of SMEs, industrial companies, middle-market and corporate clients with bespoke insurance solutions. In addition to HDI's prominent position in the German and broader European market, the company has access to its own worldwide HDI Global Network covering more than 175 countries through foreign branch offices, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and network partners. Acting as the preferred Partner in Transformation, HDI Global leads roughly 5,300 International Programmes and offers its multinational client’s compliant coverage worldwide.
In the United States, HDI operates through its three (3) wholly owned subsidiaries, HDI Global Insurance Company, a commercial property and casualty insurer headquartered in Chicago, IL and licensed in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, HDI Global Select Insurance Company, a commercial property and casualty insurer licensed in Washington D.C., and in all US states with the exception of Rhode Island, and HDI Specialty Insurance Company, an Illinois domestic surplus lines insurer who provides both primary and excess coverage to specialized industries and is also authorized to write business nationwide.
HDI Global is comprised of all risk carriers that represent the Corporate & Specialty Division of the Talanx Group and has been a leading insurer for decades. In 2024, more than 5,000 employees in this division generated approximately EUR 10 billion in gross insurance revenue (according to IFRS 17).
The rating agency Standard & Poor’s has assigned the Talanx Primary Group a financial strength rating of AA-/stable (very strong) and AM Best has assigned the A+/stable (superior) rating. Talanx AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the MDAX index.
Disclaimer
This news release may contain forward-looking statements which are based on certain assumptions, expectations and opinions of the Talanx AG and/or HDI Global SE management. These statements are, therefore, subject to certain known or unknown risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Talanx AG’s and/or HDI Global SE’s control, affect Talanx AG’s and/or HDI Global SE’s business activities, business strategy, results, performance and achievements. Should one or more of these factors or risks or uncertainties materialise, actual results, performance or achievements of Talanx AG may vary materially from those expressed or implied in the relevant forward-looking statement. Talanx AG and HDI Global SE do not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor accept Talanx AG and/or HDI Global SE any responsibility for the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. Talanx AG and/or HDI Global SE neither intend, nor assume any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.