Orchid partner CrossCover enters E&S property market

CrossCover Insurance Services, an MGU targeting middle market commercial business established in partnership with Orchid Underwriters Agency, will begin writing middle market, E&S property business this month.

CrossCover will offer limits up to $50mn per location through a panel of AM Best-rated carriers and reinsurers.

The establishment of CrossCover was revealed by this publication in June last year. US property cat-focused managing general underwriter Orchid Underwriters Agency teamed up with former AmRisc CUO Scott Hanson to launch the new MGU.

At that time, the parties said the new MGU would underwrite middle market commercial properties for wholesale broker clients beginning in early 2021.

Hanson, who is president of Houston-based CrossCover, commented on the entry into the property E&S market: “We are excited to work with the carriers and reinsurers that have stepped forward to support CrossCover rather than sit on the sidelines in this hard market. We will leverage wind and earthquake capacity and write diverse E&S accounts across the nation to achieve spread-of-risk.”

The executive added that this approach will reduce volatility and reinsurance costs for CrossCover’s carriers and will improve their return on capital.

“To achieve this end, we have appointed wholesale broker teams that focus on non-catastrophe business, and CrossCover will use proprietary tools to monitor our portfolio on a real-time basis,” he said.

Hanson was CUO and chief capacity officer at AmRisc until his departure at the end of 2018 and is also a former chief property underwriter at Aspen Specialty.

Steve Carlsen, CEO of Vero Beach, Florida-based Orchid, commented: “We have enjoyed working with Scott in getting CrossCover to this point. The assembling of new capacity in current conditions is a testament to the regard the market has for Scott and his team.”

Carlsen added: “Orchid is pleased to have been able to offer new products to its carrier partners while also building new relationships with carriers unique to CrossCover.”

Orchid is an MGU platform backed by private equity firm TowerBrook.

In July last year CrossCover added three senior AmRisc executives.

Brett Dupre, previously AmRisc’s CEO of wholesale, was appointed director of specialty and underwriting.

Sam McBirney, who was previously president of the general property division at AmRisc, was named director of general property at CrossCover.

Mason Rudloff was hired as CrossCover’s director of technology, having previously spent 15 years at AmRisc, most recently as the architect of its underwriting systems.