Didrik Smith has extensive experience working with salmon farming companies in major aquaculture markets.
Photo: Didrik Smith LinkedIn profile.
Insurance brokerage Lockton announced this week the signing of AON executive Didrik Smith as Global Practice Leader, Aquaculture. The company stated that his appointment, effective August, will bolster its expertise in the international aquaculture brokerage market.
In its announcement, Lockton emphasized that, as one of the fastest-growing food production industries globally, aquaculture plays a vital role in ensuring future food security. However, biological uncertainty, technological dependence, and shifting regulatory frameworks are making the sector increasingly complex and more vulnerable to risk.
In that context, the insurance brokerage stated that Smith's appointment not only strengthens its specialized capabilities in this rapidly expanding and increasingly strategic sector but also positions Lockton Norway as the center of the business's global aquaculture capability.
"Smith's hire underlines our ambitions to challenge established thinking and cement Norway's position at the heart of international aquaculture broking," said Øyvind Larsen, CEO of Lockton Norway.
"I am delighted to be joining the team in Norway to lead this practice on a global scale," Didrik Smith said, commenting on his appointment. "The pace of change is creating new opportunities for advisers to adapt and innovate, and we're well positioned to support clients across international markets with sharper risk insight and genuinely forward-looking solutions," he added.
As mentioned, Smith joins Lockton from AON, where he recently worked with some of the world's leading salmon farming companies in major aquaculture markets. Previously, he spent several years at Marsh, advising aquaculture clients on insurance, risk management, and risk transfer strategies.
Thus, Lockton—which is the world's largest independent insurance brokerage with more than 65,000 clients in over 140 countries—noted that the addition of its new Global Practice Leader, Aquaculture, brings to the company a deep understanding of biomass, combined with a strategic vision of the sector.
According to the release, this will help customers move beyond standardized solutions and advance towards a proactive, data-driven approach to risk management strategy.
"Aquaculture sector is growing fast, but the risk landscape is changing faster than the market can keep up with. By investing in specialised biomass insurance expertise, we can support clients globally from Norway," said Sjur Hille Olsen, Head of Strategic Growth & Emerging Opportunities at Lockton Norway.
Precisely, Olsen is one of Lockton's new hires, as the insurance firm has strengthened its operations in the Nordic countries over the past twelve months with a series of high-level appointments.
In addition to the Head of Strategic Growth & Emerging Opportunities, the brokerage has also appointed Frode Stakston as COO, Stein Halstensen as Biological Risk Specialist, Dag Sandberg as Client Executive, and Bård Poulsson as International Marine Lead.