QBE has named Serene Davis as its Global Head of Cyber, a newly established role to combat increasing digital risk.

Ms Davis, who is based in Southern California, will lead the group’s cyber underwriting division, where she will drive a “unified cyber strategy for risk assessment, pricing, claims, product and service offerings, and marketing across the entire enterprise”.

She joins QBE after 17 years at Beazley, where she made “instrumental” contributions to its Cyber Risks Global Strategy Group in her role as West Region Cyber and Tech Regional Manager. She has also worked at AIG and Federated Insurance.

“Cyber risk is a critical component of risk management for our brokers and customers, and we want to meet this need through a globally consistent cyber insurance strategy and become a market-leading cyber insurer. We’re delighted Serene will lead this important work for QBE,” QBE Group CEO Andrew Horton said.

Ms Davis is set to begin her role on May 15.