Insurance Broking Veterans, Led by McGill, Form Specialty Broker, McGill & Partners

Insurance broking veteran Steve McGill and a team of insurance industry veterans have partnered with Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, to launch McGill & Partners, a new specialty risk solutions business.

The broker will focus on strategic risk placement and advice for corporate clients, particularly those with complex insurance requirements, said a statement from New York City-headquartered Warburg Pincus, which focuses on growth investing.

McGill & Partners will offer clients a differentiated value proposition and comprehensive access to risk capital globally. The business will be headquartered in London with a center of excellence in New York and further operating hubs in other key markets over time.

The build-out and growth of the business will be financed through an initial equity commitment of up to $250 million from funds affiliated with Warburg Pincus and a substantial additional commitment from management.

Significant further capital may also be deployed to support future business expansion and reinforce the value proposition.

The business will be led by McGill, who has more than 40 years of insurance broking experience, most recently at Aon from 2005 to 2017, where he was group president of Aon plc, with responsibility for all insurance and reinsurance broking operations worldwide.

Prior to this, he worked at JLT from 1989 to 2005, where he held various leadership positions including group CEO from 2001 to 2004. McGill has also served as a non-executive director of The Hartford since 2017.

McGill will be joined in his new broking company by a team of industry veterans, including Oliver Corbett, former CFO of Hyperion; Stephen Cross, former chief innovation officer of Aon Risk Solutions; Denise Garland, former COO of Tokio Marine Kiln, and a number of other senior insurance executives.

The leadership team will also include former Willis Towers Watson executives Dominic Casserley and Tim Wright who both will join as non-executive directors.

Casserley is the former CEO of Willis Group Holdings and currently a senior adviser in Warburg Pincus’ Financial Services Group. Wright is a strategic adviser and director for Archipelago Analytics, described in his LinkedIn profile as a “new venture-backed company focused on discovering win-win solutions across the risk and insurance value-chain….” Wright was head of corporate risk & broking at Willis Towers Watson between between January 2016 and October 2016. He also held executive positions at Willis before it merged with Towers Watson, a deal that completed in January 2016.

“Our ambition is to create a new, best-in class specialty risk solutions business that will bring capital closer to clients and open up an alternative distribution channel for the benefit of clients and carriers,” said CEO McGill.

“We launch with a new and highly differentiated value proposition that will deliver an unprecedented level of client transparency and alignment,” he added.

“We have assembled a highly experienced leadership team and strong support from a leading global private equity firm,” McGill went on to say. “I am excited about building a world-class business and capitalizing on the opportunities that a rapidly changing market environment will bring.”

Dan Zilberman, Warburg Pincus head of Europe, commented, “We are excited to partner with Steve and his talented team of senior industry executives to create a new transatlantic market-leader in risk solutions. As a long term investor in the insurance brokerage and insurance sectors, we see this team bringing incredible value and choice to both clients and carriers. Our joint mission is to build a leading specialty risk solutions business focused on independence, alignment and choice.”

The transaction is expected to close in May 2019.

Source: Warburg Pincus