Bishop Street, a RedBird Capital Partners portfolio company, has announced a joint venture with Topsail Re, a privately held reinsurer, to support growth of its differentiated Managing General Agents (MGA) platform.
Through this partnership, Topsail Re will be co-investing into Bishop Street which will drive strategic value for MGAs and Program Administrators within the Bishop Street ecosystem, by providing preferred capacity and access to Topsail Re’s underwriting expertise.
The investment will further assist with fostering new primary, fronting, and reinsurance carrier relationships for existing program expansion, new product and program launches, and underwriting team lift-outs.
“Bishop Street is creating an exceptional platform to support a diverse range of partners with necessary underwriting and distribution functions as well as capital across specialty lines. We are pleased to work with Bishop Street to leverage our combined scale to provide additional capacity for MGAs, and drive organic growth opportunities,” said David Johnson, Topsail Re CEO.
Bishop Street, led by President Chad Weber and CEO Chad Levine, is a value-additive acquirer and program incubator, backed by RedBird Capital Partners.
It works to marry established businesses’ brand equity with best-in-class capabilities, capital, and resources to build a powerful growth platform.
Levine commented: “We are excited to partner with Topsail Re. From the initial launch of Bishop Street, we have been focused on utilising capacity as a strategic asset for our platform partners. Preferred capacity is a critical enabler for MGAs and this investment supports organic growth at existing MGA programs and the launch of new programs.
“Topsail Re is the ideal first partner for Bishop Street as we continue working with MGAs in the specialty P&C commercial space and is a clear differentiator in the marketplace.”
Weber added: “Combining RedBird’s strong track record building companies in and around the insurance industry, like Constellation Affiliated Partners, as well as their network and expertise in the financial services sector with Bishop Street’s multi-boutique platform model creates a really unique partner in this space that can offer benefits of scale in addition to individualised support for the business.
“The Topsail Re team recognized the potential of what we are building, and we are excited to work together to capitalise on this specialised segment.”
According to the announcement, in addition to the creation of the joint venture, Topsail Re CEO Johnson and Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President Christopher Miller will join the Bishop Street Board of Directors, and Tom Gubash, Managing Director of Topsail Capital Partners, will join as a Board Observer.
