SiriusPoint joins forces with Irish MGA

SiriusPoint, a global specialty insurer and reinsurer, and Service First Insurance, a managing general agent that provides insurance solutions for the commercial and business markets in the Republic of Ireland, have today announced a strategic partnership on a property owners programme.

Service First’s distribution partnership with SiriusPoint will enable the MGA to underwrite commercial property risks of up to €10 million. Service First will manage all aspects of the insurance lifecycle, from underwriting through to claims, in conjunction with SiriusPoint.

“We are excited to be working in partnership with Service First in the Irish market,” said Rob Gibbs, president and CEO of SiriusPoint International. 

“The team’s offering is strengthened by local knowledge and existing relationships in the market with brokers, customers, and businesses and their focus on providing a technology-led, underwriting-first service for customers aligns with SiriusPoint’s business strategy.”

“Our new partnership with SiriusPoint will bring a new injection of capacity into the insurance market in Ireland,” said Padraig Lynch, chief executive officer of Service First. “Service First recognises the need for efficient technology and platforms that guarantee a smoother and more efficient experience for our broker partners and customers. 

"We are looking forward to combining Service First’s local knowledge with the global skillset of the SiriusPoint team, to bring a unique solution to the market.”

SiriusPoint has also announced that a programme administrator supported by Bermuda-based SiriusPoint has appointed industry veteran Richard Edsall as senior vice president. 

Tara Hill, which is owned by Ambac Financial Group, said Edsall was most recently senior vice president of commercial management liability at Argo Pro. 

He will be responsible for developing an excess & surplus (E&S) portfolio focused on private management liability and miscellaneous professional liability coverages for small to medium sized risks.

Tara Hill's capacity and claims handling oversight is provided by SiriusPoint. It was launched earlier this year.  

“Rich is an exceptional underwriter who has built profitable books of business across the commercial and financial institutions spaces,” Tara Hill Chief Executive Officer Peter McKeegan said. “He is well known and well respected for his strategic and technical skills. He is an outstanding addition to our team.”

Prior to Argo, Edsall was senior vice president at Chubb, where he managed worldwide directors & officers products for financial institutions. He also previously held senior positions at Axcelera Specialty and AIG.

“I am very excited to be joining Tara Hill and look forward to working with Pete McKeegan and (Cirrata Group President) Naveen Anand in building a best-in-class management liability insurance program,” Edsall said.

Additionally, Tara Hill has named Brian McKeegan as a senior underwriter. He joins from Berkley Professional Liability, where he spent four years as an underwriter. Prior to Berkley Pro, he spent three years as an attorney with Genova Burns.

Tara Hill is part of Ambac’s growing distribution division, Cirrata Group. Its products are distributed exclusively through wholesale brokers, with capacity and claims handling oversight provided by SiriusPoint.

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