Cooper Gay Touts Ambitious Plan for New Business

August 2, 2010

Fresh off of its merger with U.S. wholesale insurance broker Swett & Crawford, London-based Cooper Gay says it plans to double the number of binding authorities it handles worldwide within three years, following the appointment of James Kininmonth as managing director of its Underwriting and Distribution Management division.

The UDM division was formed in 2009 to bring together the expertise gained through a series of acquisitions into one dedicated unit and manages in excess of $250,000,000 of capacity.

More than 25 percent of Lloyd’s business is placed under binding authorities, a figure which is expected to rise over the next few years in line with Lloyd’s 2010-2012 strategic plan. Cooper Gay says it intends to be a key player in developing distribution channels through the expansion of its delegated underwriting authority business.

New business will be generated through the international office network of the Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Group and via its five established managing general agencies (MGAs) based in London, Toronto, Hamburg, Paris and New York. In particular, the division aims to develop the opportunities arising from Cooper Gay’s recent merger with Swett & Crawford, a leading U.S. wholesale broker.

Cooper Gay is also targeting new specialist teams and individual producers to supplement the planned organic growth.

“The focus by Lloyd’s on growing its coverholder business is a fantastic opportunity for Cooper Gay which matches our own strategic focus. As a large independent broker, we have the scale to deploy specialist teams of brokers in all key classes of insurance, whilst retaining the flexibility and focus which clients and markets demand. This enables us to deliver innovative and competitive delegated authority programmes to our clients,” said Kininmonth, the new managing director of Cooper Gay’s UDM division.

Kininmonth said the UDM team is now actively developing new coverholder relationships.

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