Risk Management
Augment Risk | December 04, 2023
Augment Risk, the pioneering new reinsurance brokerage firm, today announced the arrival of Andrew Matson as Chief Executive Officer. Matson will build on Augment Risk’s significant traction, having already bound $1 billion of premium in its first year of business. Augment Risk’s initial success is a testament to the firm’s transformative ‘Client, not class of business’ approach that protects and grows client equity value.
“Augment Risk was founded to address a fundamental structural problem in the insurance and reinsurance markets. We champion the need for a shift from outdated practices of ‘products sold at prices’ to better cater to our clients’ needs,” Matson said. “I am thrilled to work with some of the most exceptional talent in the industry. We believe we can transform reinsurance broking for the better by focusing on our client’s entire business, creating partnerships with reinsurers, and enhancing equity value by better managing capital, reducing earnings volatility, and expanding the margins of our clients. Our approach has never been done at this scale.”
The reinsurance industry has remained unchanged for generations. But with the advent of an increased interest rate environment, the rise in loss cost through inflation, and challenges mounting from natural catastrophes, the need to manage capital more efficiently has never been more important. Augment Risk has implemented a numerical approach to help clients better utilize their capital to maintain or improve their financial strength while achieving their business goals.
At the heart of Augment Risk’s approach is a relentless focus on the client’s balance sheet, where capital has been blocked from being put to its best use due to operational complexity, vertical barriers, and mismanagement of risks. Augment Risk unlocks this opportunity by managing volatility through tailored solutions that are meticulously crafted to optimize enterprise value and are agnostic toward all forms of capital—a key differentiation from the conventional one-size-fits-all approach.
Matson’s deep experience and understanding of the challenges facing reinsurers’ businesses are key to executing the vision of Augment Risk’s groundbreaking broker model. His accomplishments in the industry have spanned the globe and brought billions of dollars of premium to the global reinsurance market.
“Andrew has the experience and conviction to lead Augment Risk’s next chapter of growth, and we are pleased to welcome him as CEO,” said Sam Gaynor, Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners, which announced $100 million in funding for Augment Risk earlier this year. “Augment Risk addresses a clear market need to help global customers manage complex risk capital challenges based on efficiency, with a model poised to transform the reinsurance industry.”
“Augment Risk provides the depth and breadth of expertise to ensure leaders of global companies have the capital, tools, and strategic insights necessary to thrive in a complex, often volatile environment; a one-size-fits-all approach to reinsurance doesn’t work and isn’t always in the best interest of their businesses,” said Keoni Schwartz, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners. “This puts Augment Risk in a completely different category of reinsurance, building a new market in the industry to deliver better outcomes for these businesses.”
About Augment Risk
Augment Risk is a risk capital and reinsurance solutions broker, focused on designing and placing bespoke protections for a variety of clients. With a wide range of solutions, Augment creates growth and equity value through tailored transactions to deliver long-term capital and partnerships. Augment Risk’s expertise extends beyond (re)insurance, allowing the company to disrupt the value chain and build creative, value-accretive solutions for individual client needs.
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Core Insurance
PR Newswire | October 25, 2023
Higginbotham, the largest independent insurance, financial and HR services firm headquartered in Texas and one of the top firms in the country, has joined forces with Bourg Insurance, a long-term family business with deep ties to the South Louisiana community.
As Higginbotham celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid credits careful, strategic growth for the company's long-term success. Under Reid's guidance, the company seeks partners with sterling reputations in their local markets and strong cultural affinities.
At Higginbotham, we place tremendous importance on family — which is how we view our team — and on service to our community, Reid said. If you're looking around for a similar family- and community-oriented business partner, you have to be looking at the Bourg family in South Louisiana.
Bourg Insurance President Brad Bourg, who runs the business alongside his brother Brennan Bourg, brother-in-law Chuck Leblanc — and third brother Bert Bourg, who has long been an important part of the business but is now taking a well-earned retirement — elaborated, "Our father, Claude 'Toby' Bourg, Jr., started this company back in 1958, and our flagship office is still located in our family hometown of Donaldsonville, Louisiana. It's a matter of real pride to us that so many of our clients come from word of mouth, because they know who we are."
"They know we believe in community involvement and that we're service-oriented, which are two things that really work together," Brennan Bourg, who serves as vice president, agreed. "When you're locally conscious and active in your community, you know how to provide the personalized service that your clients deserve."
"Of course, that's what drew us to Higginbotham," said Chuck Leblanc, who also serves as vice president while running the commercial lines department and managing the Donaldsonville office. "It's that family and community culture. We were approached by plenty of other firms, but in the end, we unanimously agreed that Higginbotham was most closely aligned with our way of doing business."
The Bourg brothers — Brad, Brennan and brother-in-law Chuck — also pointed out that they are looking forward to the opportunities the collaboration with Higginbotham will provide to their clients, as well as to their team, who will be eligible to take part in a top-tier employee ownership plan.
"We've been a small business for years," Brad explained. "With Higginbotham, we'll have technology and support to move that forward, providing the same services but on a larger scale."
"Access to markets, scalability, professionalism — and of course, a great brand," Brennan agreed. "Higginbotham brings so much to the table, and we're thrilled to be adding their name alongside ours."
For Higginbotham, the partnership with Bourg Insurance fortifies our existing footprint within Louisiana and provides significant opportunity for continued growth.
"Our company has deep ties in this area, being here as long as we have," Brad explained. "With this alliance, Higginbotham gets a nice footprint throughout South Louisiana."
"And they get us," Chuck concluded. "We're not retiring! Quite the opposite. We're looking forward to the future with Higginbotham, serving our clients just as this business has for the past 65 years."
About Bourg Insurance
Founded in 1958 by Claude 'Toby' Bourg, Jr. and his wife Edith, Bourg Insurance is a personal and commercial property and casualty, life and health insurance agency located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, with additional offices in Prairieville, Chauvin and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Now a Higginbotham partner agency, Bourg Insurance is run by Toby and Edith's sons, Brad and Brennan, and son-in-law Chuck Leblanc, as a family- and community-oriented business with a strong emphasis on personal lines and small to middle market companies in the real estate, restaurant and construction sectors, among others. As an agency built on relationships and personal service, Bourg Insurance has won numerous Distinguished Agency awards.
About Higginbotham
Employee owned and customer inspired, Higginbotham is a single source solution for insurance, financial and HR services. The firm was established in 1948 and ranks by revenue as the nation's 21st largest independent insurance firm. Serving thousands of businesses and individuals through locations coast-to-coast, Higginbotham's approach to finding insurance, employee benefit and risk management solutions is more individual and less institutional. By understanding customer priorities, eliminating inefficiencies and committing to transparency, Higginbotham is a place that leads with values so value leads.
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Compliance
PR Newswire | September 21, 2023
NEXT Insurance, a leading digital small business insurer, today announced a differentiated new offering that will enable agents to fully customize coverage quotes to better meet the needs of their small business clients. NEXT's Coverage Builder represents a fundamental leap in allowing agents the ability to micro-tailor small business quotes for their clients, all while maintaining NEXT's superior instant bind capabilities. Coverage Builder is fast, easy to use, and tailored exclusively to agents pre-purchase, equipping them with the tools they need to select the appropriate limits and fully control the coverage they're quoting.
With Coverage Builder, agents can select their base policy limits, add or remove coverage or update limits post-purchase, all while benefiting from the convenience of instant underwriting and price updates. This saves agents valuable time and money, allowing them to make changes automatically without the need to pick up the phone and connect directly with an underwriter. NEXT's Coverage Builder offering furthers the company's commitment to its agents by providing a user-friendly and accessible digital quoting experience, 100% online. Coverage Builder is also available to all NEXT customers post-purchase, allowing small business owners to tailor their policies with immediate price updates and seamless policy management.
"NEXT's Coverage Builder feature is 100% hassle-free," said Cody L Slocum Lammers, Commercial Lines Agent & Broker at Affordable Insurance Solutions. "This new feature sets NEXT Insurance to a new level, above its competitors, as this allows agents the flexibility to customize policies to fit the needs of each individual small business. It's user-friendly and simple to understand- this is truly a game changer for NEXT Insurance agents!"
"Agents are the go-to insurance experts and know exactly the unique types of coverage small business owners need - that's why we're offering them the opportunity to customize policies for their clients instead of standardized coverage packages," said Jack Ramsey, Vice President of Agent Business at NEXT Insurance. "Now, with NEXT's Coverage Builder, we are empowering agents to instantly quote and easily customize and bind policies that will best serve their customers. As a result, small business owners will gain the peace of mind that they're only paying for the coverage they need to protect their business and livelihood."
NEXT's Coverage Builder offering comes on the heels of the company's launch of commercial umbrella/excess liability coverage to support small businesses in their entrepreneurial journey. The digital small business insurer also recently announced its integration with Ivans Download™ for General Liability and Workers' Compensation policies and its strategic hire of Jack Ramsey as the company's Vice President of Agent Business. These developments are further evidence of NEXT's commitment to agents and dedication to providing them with a smoother, more intuitive insurance purchasing process for small business clients.
If you're interested in working with an insurance agent through NEXT Insurance, visit our website to find an expert to help you get the right coverage at the best price.
About NEXT Insurance
NEXT Insurance is transforming small business insurance with simple, digital, affordable and tailored coverage. Trusted by over 480,000 business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy and provides 24/7 access to Live Certificates of Insurance, additional insured, and more. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process and provide more affordable coverage. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, has received a total of $881 million in venture capital funding, is rated "A- Excellent" by AM Best and has been recognized by CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Fintech 50, Inc.'s Best-Led Companies, and Forbes Best StartUp Employers. For more information, visit NEXTInsurance.com. Stay up to date on the latest with NEXT on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and our blog.
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