Cogent has appointed Adam Holberry (pictured) as CEO designate, effective October 1, 2026, to lead the business into its next phase of growth.
Holberry will work closely with group chief executive Mark Bishop, alongside Cogent's board and wider leadership team.
Holberry founded Brace Underwriting, a Beat Capital-backed alternative risk MGA, in October 2019, having previously served as head of alternative risk at Hiscox and held roles at Axis Capital and Allied World Assuance focused on property and MGA business. Under his leadership as group chief executive, Brace grew from a startup into a capacity provider for niche and alternative risk MGAs operating across London, the UK, Europe and the US, writing more than $120 million in gross written premium by 2023 and launching a dedicated US arm, Brace USA, headquartered in North Carolina, that year.
Bishop has led Cogent as chief executive since 2001, having joined the firm in 1985 after four years at Cooper Gay and a stint as an underwriter at Trust International Bahrain. Cogent itself was founded in 1983 and describes itself as founder-led and independent, drawing on more than 400 years of collective broking experience across its senior team. Bishop said that as Cogent moves into its next phase, its independence, culture and client focus will not change, and that he remains fully engaged on a day-to-day basis, with Holberry's arrival giving the business extra capacity to deliver its growth plans.
Holberry said he is delighted to be joining Cogent, describing its independence and entrepreneurial spirit as giving it a genuinely open, innovative approach to complex risk solutions, and that now is the time to build on that foundation as the business enters its next chapter.
Bringing in a CEO designate who founded and ran his own specialty MGA, rather than promoting internally or hiring a more conventional broking executive, is a notable signal about the kind of growth Cogent is aiming for.
Holberry's track record is specifically in building underwriting capacity for niche, hard-to-place risk from the ground up, distinct from the more traditional broking career path, which suggests Cogent may be positioning itself to deepen its own specialty and delegated authority capabilities rather than simply scaling its existing broking model.
Bishop's explicit reassurance that he remains fully engaged day to day also points to a deliberate, gradual handover rather than an immediate change of leadership, giving Holberry time to settle into the business alongside its founder before any full transition takes place.
