Octave Specialty Group, formerly Ambac Financial Group, has filed its 2025 annual report, detailing a year in which the New York-based insurance company completed its transformation from a legacy bond guarantor into a specialty property and casualty MGA distribution platform.
The company sold its legacy financial guarantee business to funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management for $420 million in September 2025, then rebranded as Octave Specialty in the fourth quarter.
CEO Claude LeBlanc said the period marked "the end of a transformational year and the beginning of what we believe is a new era for our company."
The pivot caps a remarkable turnaround. Founded in 1971 as the American Municipal Bond Assurance Corporation, Ambac was one of the major bond insurers brought to its knees by the 2008 financial crisis.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2010 with $1.6 billion in unresolved debts and emerged in May 2013. Under LeBlanc, who took over as CEO in 2017, the specialty insurance buildout began in late 2020 with the acquisition of MGA Xchange.
Gross premiums placed reached $1.312 billion for fiscal 2025, up from $876 million the prior year. Insurance distribution revenue grew 65% year over year to $164 million, with organic growth of 17.6%. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to shareholders rose to $23 million.
Read more: Ambac Financial rebrands to Octave Specialty
The MGA platform expanded from 18 to 22 managing general agents during the year, up from a single MGA in 2021. LeBlanc said revenue has grown sevenfold on a pro forma basis since then.
The largest deal was the $250 million acquisition of ArmadaCorp Capital, a specialty accident and health MGA focused on supplemental health and benefit products for C-suite executives. The seller was SiriusPoint Ltd., with funding drawn from a $100 million term loan, $20 million revolving credit facility, and cash on hand.
Other moves included the formation of Lloyd's managing agency Statera, the launch of professional liability MGA 1889 Specialty Insurance Services, the US expansion of energy-focused MGA Alcor, and the rollout of Hammurabi, an AI-powered underwriting platform for the employer stop-loss market.
Everspan, Octave's hybrid fronting carrier, generated approximately $360.4 million in gross written premium for the year and posted a 62.9% loss ratio in the fourth quarter. Capacity available to Octave Specialty's Lloyd's Syndicates 4242 and 1416 increased 27% to $867 million heading into 2026, with third-party capacity at $1.5 billion.
Insurance distribution recorded a net loss from continuing operations of $15.4 million, widening from $6.9 million in 2024.
