Nexus US launches new ART business under Bentele

Specialty managing general agent (MGA) Nexus Group has announced the launch of a new alternative risk transfer (ART) business line.

President of Nexus Specialty Casualty Christof Bentele (pictured) is to lead the new ART business.

Nexus ART will offer multi-year structured re/insurance solutions, the MGA group said, with a primary focus on property insurance, along with liability and multi-line insurance.

As of 2023, Nexus is now part of US insurance broking firm Brown & Brown Group.

Nexus Specialty Casualty is a division of Nexus Specialty, itself a subsidiary of Nexus Underwriting US, a holding company with a focus on niche insurance classes of business and investing in MGAs.

Nexus ART has also hired Tim Starr as its head of analytics and pricing, previously an actuarial data scientist at Norse Specialty.

In addition, Richard Zhang has joined as head of underwriting for ART, joining from WTW, where he was head of ART for Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

“We’re delighted to launch the new Alternative Risk Transfer Business to offer risk transfer and retention solutions that don’t fit the conventional, traditional insurance model,” said Christof Bentele.

“These alternative risk solutions are growing in popularity as companies seek tailored flexibility for a growing number of risk scenarios, and niche insurance classes of business is what Nexus knows best. We are thrilled to have Tim and Richard on board with us and we look forward to an exciting future,” Bentele said.

President and CEO of Nexus Group US, Adam Kembrooke, added: “Our business has quadrupled in size over the last three years and the majority of that growth has been as a result of several successful new product launches, a great example of which is our specialty casualty division led by Christof, a huge success over the last 18 months since launch.

“We see a real need in the market now for a service-focused offering in the structured solutions space and our talented team will work closely with our brokers to build unique alternative risk solutions for clients. We’re confident the new ART business will be a profitable and fast-growing addition to our already expansive range of products.”