Pen Underwriting will look to launch more specialist niche practices, create more market-leading teams, introduce more technology-driven efficiencies and more economies of scale
Pen Underwriting is targeting to achieve £1bn GWP through a five-year strategy.(Credit: Free-Photos from Pixabay)
Pen Underwriting, a UK-based specialist insurance business, has unveiled a five-year strategy to generate £1bn in gross written premium (GWP) through its underwriting and distribution business.
The managing general agent (MGA) released the strategy in the wake of completing five years of operations. As part of it, the company will look to launch more specialist niche practices, create more market-leading teams, introduce more technology-driven efficiencies and more economies of scale.
According to Pen Underwriting CEO Tom Downey, the company has evolved from a ‘super start-up’ five years ago to become a £600m GWP underwriting and distribution platform.
The specialist insurance business has till date integrated 14 businesses. It is said to have transformed its operational capabilities, besides considerably boosting its profit margin by investing in creating a multi-class, multi-territory virtual insurer that controls its sales and distribution, underwriting appetite, pricing, product innovation, governance, analytics, and claims management.
Tom Downey said: “Pen was always designed to be greater than the sum of its parts. Now more than ever, with a hardening market, changing distribution landscape and the pre-eminence of data, MGAs must prove their worth in the insurance value chain.
“And with a more restricted delegated authority capacity pool, that demonstration of value needs to be constant as capacity providers go ‘back-to-basics’ in selecting their MGA partners.”
Pen Underwriting creates new CDO role to implement the strategy
Pen Underwriting has named Nick Wright to become the company’s first-ever chief business development officer (CDO) for driving the plan for its accelerated growth. The appointment will be subject to regulatory clearance.
Nick Wright will take over executive-level responsibility for business development across the company’s portfolio. He will be focusing on three core strategic elements of the company, which include mergers and acquisitions, recruitment of talent and expertise in new niche sector or product areas, and investment in innovation to support the expansion of its e-trade capabilities.
Nick Wright said: “This is an exciting time at Pen and we’re looking for the talent, teams and businesses who want to join us in this next phase of our journey. Having built a business with strong foundations, we can now scale up our ambitions, become more outwardly facing and hone in on investment opportunities to basically ‘make the boat go faster’ – or build a bigger boat.”