Start-up

Lou Iglesias on Covid-19, hard market conditions, new capital, and growth opportunities

In today’s episode of The Best Policy podcast, we are joined by president and CEO of Allied World, Lou Iglesias.

Eckert to IPO $1.1bn Bermuda start-up Conduit

Conduit Holdings Ltd – a Class 4 Bermuda reinsurance start-up launched by industry entrepreneur Neil Eckert and underwriter Trevor Carvey – will list on the London Stock Exchange in an accelerated IPO with a target of $1.1bn.

Kuhn joins Vantage as global insurance CEO

Former Endurance executive Jack Kuhn has joined Dinos Iordanou and Greg Hendrick start-up Vantage Risk as CEO of global insurance, The Insurer can reveal.

New broker Nardac launches London office as Draper joins from AFL

Recently launched broker Nardac Insurance Services has opened a London office which will be led by ex-AFL Insurance Brokers’ international property and energy director Peter Draper.

Eklund shelves retro ILS start-up plans again

Former RenaissanceRe and Aeolus executive Dave Eklund has once again postponed plans to proceed with a new retro-focused ILS fund to target 1.1 hard market opportunities, despite discussions with private equity investors, The Insurer can reveal.

Validus exits continue as Ark Bermuda hires Manders’ duo and cat underwriter Robinson

Expansive Lloyd’s carrier Ark is adding further Validus Re executives to its new Class 4 Bermuda platform with the hires of Tom Gregory and Cameron Maffit to lead specialty reinsurance, while retro and property treaty-focused Mark Robinson is also joining from the AIG-owned carrier, The Insurer can reveal.

Swiss Re-backed insurer Coefficient rated A- by AM Best

Coefficient Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Alphabet’s Verily Life Sciences that will write employer stop-loss insurance with backing from Swiss Re, has been assigned an A- financial strength rating by AM Best.

Sills start-up Bowhead continues team build ahead of 1 November launch

Stephen Sills’s start-up Bowhead Specialty Underwriters is close to adding excess casualty underwriters to its recently hired professional liability team which is set for a 1 November start, but is expected to wait for further improvement in healthcare market conditions before launching in that segment.

Program carrier start-up Sutton gets A- AM Best rating

Sutton National – the program carrier start-up backed by 777 Partners – has secured an A- AM Best rating for its two insurance companies.

Iordanou-Hendrick start-up Vantage secures preliminary AM Best rating

AM Best has assigned a preliminary credit assessment (PCA) to Vantage Risk – the start-up being readied by Dinos Iordanou and Greg Hendrick – with a financial strength assessment of A- pca and a long-term issuer credit assessment of “a-” pca.

Aon’s Nick Frankland on Lloyd’s trade capital, retro market, start-ups, and 1.1 renewals

In our latest edition of The Best Policy podcast, we are joined by Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions business.

Livingston linked to Rosh Capital’s Bermuda reinsurance start-up

Former Arch Re US CUO Joel Livingston has been linked with the management team for Rosh Re, the proposed Bermuda-based start-up reinsurer from Rosh Capital Management that has secured a $600mn lead investment from the family office of industrial investor Ajay Kumar.

Winning start-ups and incumbents will pair tech with talent

Start-ups have an opportunity to combine underwriting talent with technology to build the carriers of the future, while established insurers that can drive cultural change with digital strategies will also be well-positioned as the industry evolves, according to a panel of senior industry executives.

Investors drawn to start-ups with superior underwriting skills: Iordanou

Investors are putting money into newcos to back teams they believe have “superior underwriting skills” because that’s where earnings will be generated in a hard market opportunity that coincides with a low interest rate environment, according to former Arch chairman and CEO Dinos Iordanou.

Boylan MGA will have $15mn capacity for excess casualty and PL build-out

John Boylan’s Third Point Re-backed start-up MGA Arcadian Risk Capital will initially put down lines of up to $15mn with a minimum attachment point of $5mn for excess casualty and professional liability business as it selectively builds out a book from Bermuda, London and New York.

Stephen Sills start-up to target low excess layers

Stephen Sills’s specialty start-up with American Family will initially have a focus on writing low excess layers as it looks to build a sustainable professional liability, excess casualty and medical liability portfolio and get access to primary opportunities, The Insurer can reveal.

Mills reinsurance-only start-up Pyrrhic in late stages of fundraising for 1.1

Peter Mills-led start-up Pyrrhic Re is in the late stages of securing funds to support its launch as a hybrid MGA and reinsurance company to start writing business from 1 January 2021, The Insurer understands.

Boylan to launch casualty MGA in Bermuda with Third Point Re paper

Former Markel, Alterra and XL veteran John Boylan is closing in on the launch of a Bermuda-based MGA focusing on US excess casualty and professional liability business supported by paper from Third Point Re, The Insurer can reveal.

Sirius plans to launch E&S platform in 2020

Sirius Group has been working on a new E&S insurance platform that it hopes to go live with later this year as it continues to add capabilities ahead of its combination with Third Point Re in Q1 2021, The Insurer can reveal.

Covéa’s Eur750mn move highlights scale-ups and sidecars preferred to start-ups…

Covéa’s move to put Eur750mn into PartnerRe-managed special purpose vehicles looks like a compromise that gains the French mutual fast access to a hardening reinsurance market without a full-blown acquisition. But it also points to a growing consensus that scale-ups rather than start-ups will dominate the Covid-19 landscape.

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