Kenning to Manage Kemper, Trenwick Runoff

Kenning Financial Advisors LLC has been formed by Michael Coutu and Tom Norsworthy to be an owner and manager of property/casualty insurance operations that are in runoff. The Stamford, Conn.-based company’s first two publicly announced clients are Long Grove, Ill.-based Kemper Insurance Cos. and Trenwick America Reinsurance Corp., also based in Stamford.

For Kemper, Kenning has entered into a long-term agreement under which Coutu will serve as acting president and chief executive officer of Kemper. Working with Kemper’s existing management team, Kenning professionals will be assisting Coutu by providing financial and management consulting services to guide Kemper through a successful runoff of its businesses.
Coutu will report to Kemper’s board of directors.

For Trenwick, Kenning has been retained to advise the company and its subsidiary, Insurance Corp. of New York, in the preparation of a comprehensive, long-term runoff plan. It is currently contemplated that Kenning will implement and manage the proposed runoff plan, which will be
subject to approval by Trenwick’s board of directors, insurance regulators and other interested parties.

Chairman and CEO Coutu recently retired as chairman of RiverStone Resources LLC. RiverStone, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Corp., currently manages the runoff operations of its parent. Coutu was also responsible for the successful runoff of The Resolution Group Inc. and its subsidiary, International Insurance Co.

The Resolution Group was responsible for all of Crum & Forster’s discontinued and runoff books of business, comprising over $3 billion in insurance liabilities and reinsurance balances collectible. The co-founder and president of Kenning, Thomas Norsworthy, worked with Coutu at The Resolution Group and most recently was the chief financial officer of Swiss Re Capital Partners in New York.