Novel Financial Holdings has officially launched as an independent holding company focused on managing insurance carriers that support managing general underwriters (MGUs).
The company also announced the appointment of its executive leadership team, comprising experienced figures from across the reinsurance, broking, and insurance finance sectors.
Jacques Bonneau has been named chairman, having most recently served as CEO and president of Partner Re.
Rob Bredahl will serve as CEO while continuing in his current roles as vice chairman of Howden Re and executive chairman of Howden Capital Markets and Advisory.
Chris Coleman, formerly group chief finance officer (CFO) at Aspen Insurance Group, joins as CFO.
David Drury, a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and former executive vice president of underwriting at SiriusPoint, takes on the role of head of analytics and risk.
The announcement follows Novel’s acquisition of Forza Insurance Holdings, which owns the attorney-in-fact entities for SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (SURE) and Elevate Reciprocal Exchange.
Both SURE and Elevate are policyholder-owned insurers managed by Novel and underwrite business in partnership with SageSure, a MGU specialising in catastrophe-exposed property markets in the US.
Novel’s business model combines fee-based income from insurance services with underwriting performance from its carriers.
The company aims to build a diversified insurance services group by scaling its operations and revenue mix while maintaining discipline in programme partner selection.
