Multi-territory managing general agent Pen Underwriting has announced a new strategy to target £1 billion in gross written premium.
As part of this goal, Nick Wright will take on the newly created role of Chief Business Development Officer (CDO), with a focus on investing in M&A, talent and innovation.
“Now more than ever, with a hardening market, changing distribution landscape and the pre-eminence of data, MGAs must prove their worth in the insurance value chain,” said Pen Chief Executive Officer Tom Downey.
“And with a more restricted delegated authority capacity pool, that demonstration of value needs to be constant as capacity providers go ‘back-to-basics’ in selecting their MGA partners,” he continued.
“That means we want to roll out more specialist niche practices, more market-leading teams, more technology-driven efficiencies and more economies of scale. Hence the focus on accelerating our growth as we look to the next milestone of Pen at 10.
“Our vision is to become a £1bn GWP underwriting and distribution business,” Downey added. “This is our new ‘North Star’. Clear, inspiring and intentionally ambitious.”
As CDO, Wright will assume executive level responsibility for business development across Pen’s portfolio.
He will focus specifically on mergers & acquisitions, the hiring of talent and expertise in new niche sector or product areas, and investing in innovation to underpin the expansion of Pen’s e-trade capabilities.
“Nick’s new role is one that’s fundamental to the successful execution of our strategy as we look ahead to the next milestone,” said Downey. “We have a bold vision to accelerate our growth, and this will demand 100% focus on everything we are trying to achieve. It can’t be achieved off the side of someone’s desk. And there’s no one better suited.”
Wright also commented: “This is an exciting time at Pen and we’re looking for the talent, teams and businesses who want to join us in this next phase of our journey.”
“Having built a business with strong foundations, we can now scale up our ambitions, become more outwardly facing and hone in on investment opportunities to basically ‘make the boat go faster’ – or build a bigger boat.”
