Insurance
Clear Group’s Shape Underwriting Acquires HNW Specialist Protect Underwriting; Optio Buys UK PI Specialist MGA, Custodian Management

Clear Group’s Form Underwriting Acquires HNW Specialist Shield
Form Underwriting, the London-headquartered managing normal agent, has acquired Protect Underwriting LLP, a specialist MGA in non-public shopper high-net-worth enterprise.
Monetary particulars of the deal weren’t disclosed.
This transaction marks Form Underwriting’s first acquisition since its rebranding and reinforces its ambition to grow to be a number one drive within the specialty market, the corporate stated. (Clear Group, the impartial middleman, announced this month that it had rebranded its managing normal company division to “Shape Underwriting.”)
Mandy Hunt, managing director of Form Underwriting, commented: “Shield brings distinctive underwriting experience and a robust observe report. Their concentrate on high quality and sustainable development matches completely with our strategic course. This acquisition marks a big step in Form’s evolution and broadens our attain.”
“We’re excited to affix Form Underwriting. This partnership will enable us to put money into our underwriting staff, matching our development plans and ship ongoing enhancements to our dealer service with higher entry to our underwriters,” stated Jonathan Rouse, managing associate at London-based Shield Underwriting LLP.
***
MGA Optio Group Buys UK Skilled Indemnity Specialist, Custodian Administration
Optio Group, the London-based impartial specialty MGA platform, introduced it has acquired Cranleigh, UK-based Custodian Management Ltd.
Monetary particulars of the transaction, which is topic to regulatory approval, weren’t disclosed.
Based in 2013 by managing director Zahid Naqvi, Custodian Administration Ltd. has grown to grow to be a revered and profitable skilled indemnity (PI) and administration legal responsibility specialist, Optio stated in a press release.
With a transparent concentrate on underwriting profitability, Custodian Administration has navigated market cycles with confidence and resilience, persistently delivering robust outcomes for its capability suppliers, Optio stated, noting that the deal will improve its current PI proposition and is an extra important step in its ambition to create a diversified platform.
“Custodian’s established underwriting experience, robust dealer relationships and strong capability help make it a pure strategic match inside Optio’s rising portfolio,” commented Deepak Soni, CEO of Optio Group.
“This transaction builds on the momentum of our ongoing technique focusing on high-quality, area of interest specialty MGAs globally, underscoring our dedication to strategic development, underwriting excellence and client-focused options,” Soni added.
Gary Head, CUO of Optio Group, stated: “Zahid and the staff are an impressive match for Optio, having persistently delivered sustainable earnings for his or her insurer companions in a specialised space of the market. They mix firstclass dealer service with responsive, versatile and worthwhile underwriting. We very a lot look ahead to welcoming them onboard.”
Along with its strategic funding in Italian MGA, Heca S.r.l., earlier Optio acquisitions embrace: Norwegian-based MGA S Insurance coverage AS, Netherlands and-Brussels primarily based MGA Den Hartigh and Luxembourg-based Circles Group (pending regulatory approval).
Insurance coverage Advisory Companions (IAP) acted because the unique monetary adviser for Optio on this transaction.
Subjects
Mergers & Acquisitions
Underwriting
Insurance Wholesale
Curious about Insurance coverage Wholesale?
Get computerized alerts for this matter.
Insurance
Liberty GTS Names Weiss Head of Americas; Arch Insurance NA Taps Kaufmann for US Marine Business; Costa to Lead Aspen Investor Relations

Liberty GTS Names Weiss Head of Americas

Liberty International Transaction Options (GTS), a part of Liberty Mutual Insurance coverage headquartered in London, promoted Hilary Weiss to move of Americas.
Weiss joined Liberty Mutual in 2018 as affiliate vice chairman, Americas M&A earlier than shifting to Liberty GTS in 2021 as head of the corporate’s Japanese zone. In March this yr, she was appointed head of illustration and warranties insurance coverage (RWI) for Liberty GTS.
Earlier than becoming a member of Liberty, Weiss held underwriting and insurance coverage specialist roles, most just lately at XL Catlin.
Arch Insurance coverage North America Faucets Kaufmann to Set up U.S. Marine Enterprise

Arch Insurance coverage North America, headquartered in Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey, appointed Jeff Kaufmann as govt vice chairman (EVP), head of marine, efficient July 7.
On this newly created function, Kaufmann shall be answerable for establishing Arch’s U.S. Marine product choices, constructing a specialised underwriting group and rising the associated guide of enterprise. This new unit will embody each ocean marine and inland marine merchandise.
Kaufmann, who is predicated in New York, joins Arch from MSIG USA, the place he was EVP and head of marine.
Aspen Appoints Costa Head of Investor Relations

Aspen Insurance coverage Holdings Restricted, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, appointed Mariza Costa to the newly created function of head of investor relations.
Costa has over 20 years’ expertise throughout investor relations, ranking company administration, fairness analysis and credit score rankings. She most just lately served as vice chairman, ranking company relations and company finance, at Everest Group. She beforehand held roles at AM Greatest Firm’s rankings division as affiliate director, reinsurance and huge industrial, Allianz International Company & Specialty as dealer compensation supervisor, and Stifel Nicolaus Corp. Inc. as senior affiliate analyst, property and casualty insurance coverage.
Matters
USA
A very powerful insurance coverage information,in your inbox each enterprise day.
Get the insurance coverage business’s trusted e-newsletter
Insurance
Marsh McLennan Buys Excel Agency in South Florida

Marsh McLennan Company, a part of the worldwide Marsh insurance coverage brokerage and companies firms, has acquired Excel Insurance coverage, an insurance coverage company in Medley, Florida.
Excel was based in 2020 and offers property/casualty options, together with auto, watercraft, industrial protection, householders and employees’ compensation insurance coverage, for small companies and residents in south Florida, the businesses stated in a information launch.
All Excel staff, together with President Jacob Pared, will now be part of MMA in its present Doral workplace.
Marsh McLennan, with places of work in White Plains, New York, stated it advises purchasers in 130 international locations.
Subjects
Mergers & Acquisitions
Florida
Was this text precious?
Listed here are extra articles chances are you’ll take pleasure in.
Keen on Mergers?
Get automated alerts for this matter.
Insurance
NOAA Delays Cutoff of Key Satellite Data for Hurricane Forecasting

The Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated Monday it’s delaying by one month the deliberate cutoff of satellite tv for pc knowledge that helps forecasters monitor hurricanes.
Meteorologists and scientists warned of extreme penalties final week when NOAA said, in the midst of this year’s hurricane season, that it might nearly instantly discontinue key knowledge collected by three climate satellites that the company collectively runs with the Protection Division.
The Protection Meteorological Satellite tv for pc Program’s microwave knowledge provides key info that may’t be gleaned from standard satellites. That features three-dimensional particulars of a storm, what’s occurring inside it and what it’s doing within the in a single day hours, consultants say.
The info was initially deliberate to be minimize off on June 30 “to mitigate a major cybersecurity danger,” NOAA’s announcement stated. The company now says it’s suspending that till July 31. Peak hurricane season is often from mid-August to mid-October.
NOAA didn’t instantly reply to a message searching for extra particulars concerning the motive for the delay. The Navy confirmed the brand new date and stated solely that the “program now not meets our info expertise modernization necessities.”
NOAA — which has been the topic of hefty Division of Authorities Effectivity cuts this 12 months — stated Friday the satellite tv for pc program accounts for a “single dataset in a strong suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling instruments” within the Nationwide Climate Service’s portfolio.
The company’s “knowledge sources are totally able to offering an entire suite of cutting-edge knowledge and fashions that make sure the gold-standard climate forecasting the American folks deserve,” a spokesperson stated.
However Union of Involved Scientists science fellow Marc Alessi informed The Related Press on Friday that detecting the fast intensification, and extra precisely predicting the doubtless path, of storms is vital as local weather change worsens the intense climate skilled throughout the globe.
“Not solely are we dropping the flexibility to make higher intensification forecasts, we’re additionally dropping the flexibility to foretell precisely the place a tropical cyclone could possibly be going, if it’s in its improvement levels,” Alessi stated. “This knowledge is important.
“On the seasonal forecasting entrance, we might see the results,” he added, “but additionally on the long-term local weather change entrance, we now are dropping a necessary piece to monitoring world warming.”
Copyright 2025 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Matters
Catastrophe
Natural Disasters
Hurricane
Aerospace
Desirous about Aerospace?
Get computerized alerts for this subject.
-
Life Style2 weeks ago
6 Summer Tips for Unwinding, Recharging and Taking Care of Yourself
-
News2 weeks ago
A Timeline of the Minnesota Shooting
-
Technology3 weeks ago
The investor experience at TechCrunch All Stage: One floor, infinite deal flow
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
Jesy Nelson Brings Her Twin Babies Home After 3 Months in Hospital
-
Technology3 weeks ago
New York passes a bill to prevent AI-fueled disasters
-
Technology2 weeks ago
The Disrupt 2025 Builders Stage agenda now live and taking shape
-
Travel3 weeks ago
25 Must-Know Trivia Questions for All Kids Growing Up in the 1950s, Alabama Included
-
Technology2 weeks ago
OpenAI found features in AI models that correspond to different ‘personas’