Article by Bondaval

Simon Philpin: why I joined Bondaval

Simon Philpin has more than 25 years’ experience analysing and insuring credit risk across the world.
In his recent role as Director of Trade Credit at Markel, he led a global team of 25 underwriters, issuing policies in every continent except Antarctica.
Now Group Chief Commercial Underwriting Officer at Bondaval, he is responsible for expanding the company's global commercial footprint.

What made you want to join Bondaval?
The reason I joined Bondaval is mainly because of the team.
The way the team is split, with 50% of them being tech engineers and 50% of them being on the credit risk side, is quite a good dynamic, especially when you consider AI, technology and the way the world is going right now. To have your own tech team to actually work and develop features with the client... it makes a huge difference.
Generally, insurers get a system, and the client tends to fit around that system. Our system is looking to build around the client and see what they need.

What impressed you about Bondaval's offering?
We've got to know Bondaval's offering quite intimately over last two years, because fortunately I got to syndicate on a couple of policies.
Their system is completely different to what I've seen before. Specifically for traders, their ability to look at buying and selling for the client, to be able to look at it on the system and net each other off... it's a really, really useful tool for credit managers to be able to see exactly where they are when there's trading in and out of their business.
And in our system, you can identify not just every jurisdiction, but every department who's utilising the system. That means you can actually allocate premium for each department within a global operation, which is pretty genius. It's basically what made Bondaval able to take on one of the world's global clients in the energy industry.

What makes Bondaval so different?
The ability to get a credit manager in with us, speak to them and say, "OK" in an ideal world, you have a blank piece of paper: what would you like your credit system to do for you?" And we have the tech team that can build that for them... I mean, that is completely different to what's on offer in the industry right now, particularly in credit insurance.
And what I've seen as well... I won't give too much away, but in terms of the developments going forward, there's a lot of new tech announcements going to be made in 2026, which made me excited about coming across.

It's not just credit insurance we're looking at. We're looking at a proper credit infrastructure for credit managers and CFOs, to be able then to help facilitate them do their roles more successfully.

What growth do you see in Bondaval's future?
If I take into consideration the wider growth opportunity for us in the credit market, the opportunities are huge for us.
We will be looking to deploy new teams, obviously in the US and in the DACH region. But further down the line, we will be looking more globally, potentially Asia, Middle East, to see how we can expand our offering.
We want to become a global player, so being operational in every jurisdiction across the globe has to be paramount for us.
2026 looks like it's going to be a really fantastic growth opportunity for us. We are here to build something exceptional in the market, which you can already see by the clients that we are attracting already. The calibre of clients we're attracting is really a game changer, so I'm super keen to start 2026!

About Bondaval
Bondaval combines insurance and technology to insure receivables for the world's best credit teams, so they can extend more credit, win more business and secure better financing terms. Founded in 2020, Bondaval is licensed across 30 countries, with a global team of 40+ across London, New York, and Dallas. S&P AA- rated underwriting capacity is provided in partnership with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions.