Ledgebrook plans to give wholesale brokers access to commercial property and inland marine products in the coming months after transitioning to a full-stack carrier, CEO Gage Caligaris (pictured) has told Insurance Business.
The Boston-based specialty insurance business is broadening its offering to give wholesalers new placement options beyond its casualty business, alongside a claims build-out intended to strengthen contact with brokers and customers.
The expansion comes amid a softening insurance market. For Caligaris, underwriting discipline in this environment means being willing to accept slower growth. He said that pressure to build premium volume will not dictate the company’s pricing.
“If we don’t grow fast enough, I’m just going to get yelled at by the investors. So, I just have to sit there and say, ‘Sorry, guys, it is what it is. We’re doing the right thing,’” he said.
“It’s not a trade-off,” between growth and profitability, Caligaris added, but “more about making sure we stay disciplined through the cycle, which is something I feel quite confident in.”
Caligaris described the planned property offering as commercial, with a middle-market appetite diversified across the country. The company has no current plans for personal lines and isn’t looking to take on extensive catastrophe-exposed risk.
“Though we’ve made the transition to the carrier, it’s not like we have a $10-billion balance sheet,” said Caligaris. “It makes sense to be prudent and cautious.”
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Construction and directors and officers’ coverage are also focus areas for next year, although Caligaris identified property as the most significant departure from Ledgebrook’s existing business. However, he reassured wholesalers that existing underwriting relationships and service would continue as the range of available products grew.
Asked about emerging exposures such as cyber and AI, the CEO said new risks have created opportunities for insurers to serve businesses. Ledgebrook’s immediate strategy, however, centers on improving the delivery of established products, drawing on experienced insurance specialists.
“We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel or be a first mover,” said Caligaris. “We’re simply looking to make the wheel spin faster.”
Ledgebrook’s expansion follows a $200 million primary equity financing round announced in October, co-led by Allianz X and Rockefeller Capital Management. The company said the proceeds would support its technology and proprietary Blackbird underwriting platform, while Allianz Re separately agreed to a multiyear reinsurance arrangement. The announcement also confirmed that AM Best had assigned Ledgebrook Specialty Insurance Company an A- financial strength rating in August, completing its transition to a full-stack platform.
“The general theme is that we’re rounding out our product offering to the fully formed Ledgebrook platform. The technology has always been product-agnostic,” said Caligaris, noting the platform intended to help experienced underwriters bring new products to market and service brokers more efficiently.
“We’re really more sober-mindedly taking the best expertise that already exists and plugging it into a fantastic technology platform so people can do what they do best, faster, with less friction, without one hand tied behind their back,” he said.
Ledgebrook is extending that investment to claims, building out its operations under Jody Sims, whom it hired from Root. The company already has 15 claims staff and expects to deploy its claims technology system by year-end, with further improvements next year. Third-party administrators will continue to provide additional capacity as the operation develops.
“We’ll always probably have some reliance on TPAs. I think that’s pretty standard across the industry for flex capacity,” Caligaris said. “But we’ll probably wean ourselves off that over time.”
