“Either there is a market where supply meets demand, or there is no market at all. Adequate pricing should always be a guiding principle, but the corrective journey can be a tumultuous one and not everyone is embarking on it in the same way or at the same pace.”

Those were the words of Philippe Gouraud, chief executive officer of Rising Edge, a new London-based managing general agent (MGA) writing directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance. Launched in the first half of 2021, the startup aims to reinvent existing industry models and bring capacity to the London Market.

Rising Edge will offer a full spectrum of D&O coverage: primary and low attachment cover for a breadth of different companies, from those with US listed securities or international exposures to private businesses.

With more than two decades of experience in the London Market, having held various senior underwriting and distribution roles at AXA XL (formerly XL Catlin) and AIG, Gouraud is well placed to make such statements. He shared the company’s plans with the Re/insurance Lounge, Intelligent Insurer’s online on-demand platform for interviews and panel discussions with leaders in the industry.

“We are seeing different types of behaviour when it comes to price adjustment, some of it quite erratic,” he said. “Pricing adjustment can be handled in a much better way because in the long run, when it comes to increases, the client will remember not what you asked for, but how.”

He stressed that clients are entitled to an adequate explanation about pricing changes and should be provided with enough time to look at alternatives.

The right structure

Gouraud has formed Rising Edge in partnership with Yoel Brightman, who will serve as the managing director. Brightman was previously product manager of management liability at AXA XL where he was responsible for the development of the portfolio and underwriting strategy. Prior to joining AXA XL in 2011, he served as senior underwriter at Chubb Insurance Company of Europe. He has grown diverse portfolios of D&O insurance in his past roles.

Brightman is the out-and-out D&O expert of the pair and, Gouraud says, that expertise helped inform the decision to launch into the sector now.

“This was the right time to launch a D&O business,” he said. “The market is extremely supportive of the capacity that we are bringing, but we do understand the opportunity we have and are not taking it for granted.”

Gouraud believes that Rising Edge will bring something unique by reinventing existing industry models and leveraging technology. He asserts that Rising Edge has developed a new way to offer brokers and clients insurance that gives them more than just a risk transfer mechanism itself.

He was also keen to stress that the launch of Rising Edge is not an opportunistic move based purely on favourable market conditions.

“Backed by an excellent team, we are here to establish a long-term business based on core principles. We believe that an MGA structure provides us with the right opportunity to make an impact,” he said.

These principles include alignment with capacity providers, exceptional service to brokers and valuable insight to clients. “Simply providing capacity for clients is just not good enough, we need to demonstrate a clear understanding of their risks,” he said.

“Why would brokers work with us if we were anything but transparent and reliable,” he added.

He also sees an opportunity to bring more fun into the underwriting profession by spending more time on risk selection and risk pricing.

“We fervently believe that close engagement with clients and our legal partners from the outset leads to better outcomes on claims and can reduce the risk of litigation,” he said.

Gouraud believes Rising Edge has an exceptional opportunity to establish itself as a credible alternative by being more innovative in risk prevention particularly, and to differentiate itself by providing a new direction in the D&O market from the outset.

A touch of madness

The setting up of an MGA provides the ideal platform for what the Rising Edge team hope to achieve.

“We like the boutique structure it provides, in addition to the fact that as an MGA, Rising Edge is free of system legacies,” said Gouraud. “We have the freedom to be more innovative and we have the perfect conduit to match risk appetite.”

He agrees that launching a business at a time of unprecedented upheaval in the market was an audacious move. “It requires a touch of madness because you are venturing into unfamiliar territory and there is always something that comes up that you hadn’t considered,” he remarked.

“It is not complicated, it just requires a profound amount of persistence and resilience. As an entrepreneur, you have a ‘let’s get it done now’ attitude, which is not always possible for everyone.

“The process can be so consuming that four weeks after our launch, I only realised a few days later that we had been operational for a month already.”

In terms of creating a fully-fledged team from the outset, Rising Edge has announced a raft of new hires since its launch. Kelly Lyles has joined as non-executive chair to the board. She has extensive experience in the D&O market and most recently served as chief executive, client and country management, at AXA XL.

Miles Murphy takes on the role of finance director and chief operating officer having joined from AIG Asia-Pacific where his role was head of operations and transformation services.

Owen Dacey was appointed head of claims after serving as claims manager and regional practice leader, management liability, at AXA XL. Eleanor Fisher was appointed as an underwriter and joined from Marsh London, where she was a vice president and US wholesale broker working on financial lines, including D&O.

Jamie Banks joined the underwriting team from Travelers, where he served as associate underwriter in the management liability team.

“The calibre of these new hires confirms our dedication to excellent underwriting and spending more time engaging with companies and their directors on the multitude of risks they face today,” said Gouraud.

“Rising Edge has an extraordinary opportunity to provide a new direction in the D&O market,” he concluded.

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Image courtesy of Shutterstock / Lukas Gojda