CORE INSURANCE,INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Connell Insurance and Higginbotham | December 06, 2022
Connell Insurance is the first agency in the state of Missouri to join Higginbotham, an insurance, financial and HR services firm ranked among the largest independent brokers in the U.S. Connell Insurance is one of the largest and fastest growing locally-owned property/casualty insurance and employee benefits brokers in southwest Missouri. The deal adds a 14th state to Higginbotham's footprint and gives Connell Insurance increased customer support that includes loss control, employee benefit plan services and human resources.
Higginbotham is strategically growing to expand its reach and increase its service capability by selectively partnering with other independent agencies that have strong reputations in their local markets, a desire to keep growing by tapping into its single source solution and a strong cultural match.
Connell Insurance has two Missouri offices in Branson and Springfield, with a combined 38 employees with immediate plans to hire more to accommodate growth. It's led by practicing insurance and employee benefits consultants Casey Chastain, Jay Hickman, Tom Jensen and Chase Marable.
"We see Higginbotham as a larger version of our firm. We position ourselves as 'agents of change,' adapting to new market trends and evolving our model as the business environment changes. To be a long-term partner for our clients, change is essential, and joining Higginbotham is part of that strategy. The value-added services for our clients, the future growth opportunities for our firm and the ability to partner with a privately held organization that offers employee ownership are all welcome changes."
-Connell Insurance's leadership, Jensen
Higginbotham Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid said, We have offices in the states that border south Missouri, so we had our sight set on finding the right partner to help establish our presence there. Connell Insurance being one of the fastest-growing insurance agencies in the region is what prompted our interest, because obviously they're doing something right. The decision to cement our partnership was driven by their alignment with our people-first culture and forward-thinking attitude.
Higginbotham gave the title of managing director to all four of Connell Insurance's leaders, and they will continue guiding their team.
About Connell Insurance
Connell Insurance is a property/casualty insurance and employee benefits brokerage firm that provides solutions that help companies and individuals manage risk. Established in 1970, Connell Insurance today is one of the largest locally-owned insurance brokers in southwest Missouri. It has concentrated experience in the public entity, manufacturing, transportation, social services, construction and hospitality sectors.
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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CORE INSURANCE,INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Hildene Capital Management | November 25, 2022
Hildene Capital Management, LLC (“Hildene”), a $12 billion credit-focused asset manager, today announced the formation of Ludlow Re SPC, Ltd. (“Ludlow Re”), a Cayman Islands-based, Class B(iii) insurance company.
Ludlow Re will offer reinsurance to the global insurance market and, as part of its inaugural transaction, will reinsure approximately $1 billion of fixed index annuity reserves through a quota share agreement entered into with a U.S.-based life insurance carrier.
“Given its ability to provide long-term, flexible capital, Ludlow Re optimizes Hildene’s robust asset management capabilities, helping us as we seek to enhance returns for our investors, Since Hildene’s inception in 2008, we have taken a prudent approach to managing the size and scale of our assets and will continue to execute on this approach with Ludlow Re — opportunistically adding to our portfolio only when we believe we can confidently invest in assets that produce attractive returns for our clients.”
-Brett Jefferson, Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Hildene.
Hildene’s structured credit assets, particularly TruPS CDOs, align well with the duration and liquidity profile of life and annuity insurance liabilities, We believe insurers and asset managers can benefit from a symbiotic relationship — money managers receive access to insurers’ expansive capital base while insurers receive access to sophisticated investment opportunities they may not have otherwise,added Dushyant Mehra, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Hildene.
Ludlow Re received its B(iii) insurance license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority in September 2022.
About Hildene Capital Management
Founded in 2008, Hildene Capital Management, LLC is a diversified institutional asset manager specializing in asset-based and credit opportunities. Hildene Co-CIOs Brett Jefferson and Dushyant Mehra are backed by a senior investment team with a long and established track record of investing across various credit and distressed cycles, leveraging their expertise in managing complex assets. Today, Hildene manages over $12 billion for a broad range of clients across its flagship private funds, tailored managed accounts and securitized asset structures.
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CORE INSURANCE
Insurity and Utah Business Insurance Company | November 10, 2022
Insurity, a leading provider of cloud-based software for insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs, today announced that Utah Business Insurance Company (UBIC) is the recipient of the “Data and Analytics Innovator of the Year” award at Excellence in Insurance Innovation. The Excellence in Insurance Innovation awards ceremony took place in Las Vegas. It recognized the outstanding performances of P&C organizations in categories including exceptional policyholder service, digital transformation, and excellence in data and analytics.
UBIC is a monoline workers’ compensation carrier that serves roofers, framers, and excavators, and it needed to be strategic in how it deployed resources in a traditionally high-risk sector. They effectively navigated these complexities using Insurity Predict’s real-time predictive insights and data consortium to process a significantly higher volume of submissions.
“UBIC is a data-driven company, and we have fostered a culture around predictive modeling thanks to the ease of using Insurity Predict, We brought the Insurity Predict model into play just a few years ago, transforming how we do business. We went from running loss control on every risk to deploying our resources across submissions more intelligently. Instead of spending time servicing every account the same way, we now tailor these experiences for our policyholders based on the predictive risk scores.”
-Tyler Nielsen, Chief Operating Officer at UBIC
One of the ways UBIC innovated with this model was by extracting the data from the Insurity Predict system and integrating it with their business intelligence platforms. This way, everyone from the underwriters to loss control to customer service has access to this data in their reports.
The sheer volume of data that insurance organizations have can overwhelm and make it difficult to write new business and quickly make the right underwriting decisions, Using the Insurity Predict Model, UBIC has made strides in leveraging predictive data and analytics to manage their risk portfolio better, giving them the ability to assess risk much more quickly and accurately over the long term,said Sylvester Mathis, Chief Insurance Officer at Insurity.
About Insurity
Insurity is a leading provider of cloud-based software for insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs. Insurity is trusted by 15 of the top 25 P&C carriers and 7 of the top 10 MGAs in the US and has over 400 cloud-based deployments. Through its best-in-class digital platform and with unrivaled industry experience and the industry’s most robust analytics offerings, Insurity is uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional value, empowering customers to focus on their core businesses, optimize their operations, and provide superior policyholder experiences. Insurity is a portfolio company of GI Partners and TA Associates.
About Utah Business Insurance Company
Based in South Jordan, Utah, UBIC has become an insurance industry leader in workers' compensation. UBIC is dedicated to meeting the needs of its agents and policyholders with a strong emphasis on providing outstanding customer service and results-oriented risk management programs.
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