Tech-enabled E&S MGA Aurenity has landed Kevin Thommes from Old Republic Specialty as an executive vice president to launch its newly unveiled public entity program, Program Manager can reveal.
He was most recently vice president of alternative risks at Old Republic Specialty with responsibility for a meaningful portfolio of public entity and scholastic clients, joining in 2022 from Safety National, where he had been director of public entity.
Thommes previously held claims and underwriting roles in the sector at Brit USA, where he worked under Aurenity’s founding CEO Nick Davies.
Our sister publication The Insurer revealed at the start of February that Aurenity was entering the public entity space with backing from specialty carrier Vantage Risk, with the new program expected to begin writing business with a 1 April effective date.
The partnership will see Aurenity offer a mix of standalone and pool business on an excess basis with casualty capacity of up to $5mn.
It will also target select scholastic, higher education, and other non-profit business.
Commenting on the Thommes hire, Aurenity CUO Doug Trainor said: “Kevin brings nearly 20 years of experience building and managing portfolios of public entity business profitably. He has a wealth of pricing and product expertise in this complex market with a strong distribution following.”
Davies added: “We are delighted to welcome Kevin to our growing platform. We continue to execute on our strategy of enabling market-leading talent with cutting-edge pricing technology for a better view of risk.”
Sources previously described the new program as a package offering that would include excess coverages for general liability and auto liability, as well as professional liability coverages such as errors and omissions and employment practices liability.
The public entity launch follows a significant contraction of capacity in recent years as carriers have retrenched in response to the impact of social inflation and loss cost trends.
In a statement confirming its entry to the space, Aurenity said it has identified the excess market as “ideally suited” to deploy much-needed capacity for clients and broker partners.
Aurenity is backed by Chicago-based investor Agman and was formed in January 2022 as an E&S MGA that it says blends expertise and innovation to offer a better view of risk.
Last April the firm launched its excess casualty buffer program aimed at mid-market construction, hospitality, real estate, premises and products risks on the A- paper of Everspan.
That followed the launch of primary general liability and excess casualty programs, giving Aurenity the ability to participate in all layers of casualty placement towers.
Other key hires made by the MGA platform since its launch include Patrick Safino as COO, Janet Beaver as executive vice president – leading its entry to the excess and buffer casualty market – and Mark Fuderanan as executive vice president spearheading its move into the general liability market.