Career Center Powered by GreatInsuranceJobs.com
Mr. Ryan has turned his attention to wholesale, managing general agency and brokerage service businesses with last week’s creation of Ryan Specialty Group and launch of Ryan Specialty (Europe) Ltd.
“When there are problems, there are opportunities—and there are a lot of problems out there,” Mr. Ryan said.
“There is a somewhat dysfunctional environment, with tremendous pressure on profitability. One would say, well, that’s a bad time to do it, but I take the opposite [view] and say it’s a great time.”
“I like businesses where you can differentiate yourself, and the ones that we have in our vision [and] strategy really allow for that differentiation,” he said, listing those as managing general underwriters, MGAs and wholesale businesses.
“I never look at [the market] as hard or soft in terms of appetite to be in business,” Mr. Ryan continued. He explained that those who wait for a hard market to start a new business probably miss opportunities, since a hard market is usually short in duration compared to the extended years a soft market typically lasts. Now, he said, is a great time to bring fresh capital to the table “and make a difference to the client.”
Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) is aimed at providing specialty services to insurance brokers, agents and carriers, the company said. Its strategy is to develop MGUs, managing general agents, wholesale brokers, and a service platform for agents and brokers. RSG will not include retail brokerage, reinsurance brokerage or human resource consulting.
RSG’s first subsidiary, ThinkRisk of Kansas City, Mo., began business in December to provide underwriting and claims management services for media, technology, advertising and network security. The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Leib Dodell. Mr. Ryan serves as chairman.
Its second subsidiary, Ryan Specialty (Europe) Ldt., launched earlier this month, is a U.K.-based MGU agency specializing in financial lines products including directors and officers, financial institution and professional liability products. The agency will be led by Malcolm Nightingale and Adam Barker.
Mr. Ryan said RSG is not related to Aon, where he retired as chairman in 2008, but he hopes Aon and the other major brokers—Marsh and Willis—will become clients. RSG’s aim is to provide services to the full range of agents and brokers from the mega-brokers to regional and local brokers and agents, dealing with businesses from large to middle-market through smaller markets.
What will differentiate RSG from others in this segment is the attraction of “some unusually talented people who want to be a part of building and also create real added-value toward our clients,” he observed.
It will also offer answers to those agents and brokers who need assistance and strategies in the technology and back-office processes that the large national and regional brokers have overcome through the economy of scale, he said.
As far as account size, while MGUs will target large to mid-market clients, RSG has the Web-based technology advantage to do a lot of smaller clients economically, Mr. Ryan noted.
Additional information about RSG is available at www.ryansg.com and ThinkRisk at www.ThinkRiskIns.com.