Industry veteran to chair AkinovA’s Bermuda neutral and regulated business

AkinovA, the independent electronic marketplace for the transfer and trading of re/insurance risk, has appointed an industry veteran who joined its advisory board a few months ago to the role of non-executive chairman of  AkinovA’s wholly-owned regulated Bermuda business.

Dennis Mahoney will be based in Bermuda and joins Tom Heise on the board of AkinovA Bermuda. During his career, Mahoney served as chairman of WIN (World Insurance Network) and president of the Insurance Institute of London and Troika for the UK government which was set up in the aftermath of the 9/11 New York terror attack to keep airports operational and airlines flying with a partnership between insurance and airlines, and backstop provided by the government. He also served for many years at ACORD, the insurance industry standards body. In addition, he has enjoyed various senior roles at Aon including chairman of Aon Global, RFIB and at Ironshore as an independent director.

Mahoney said: “AkinovA is squarely positioned on exponential trends, whilst much of the traditional insurance industry is not. The GDP-like linear growth trend line evidenced by most carriers is indicative of the current risk transfer cost chain from insured to capital. The often new and ever greater challenges such viral, cyber and climate 'pandemics' require far more financial and intellectual capital than ever. Social inflation, ultra-low interest rates and inadequate reserves have all affected insurers’ balance sheets. Society increasingly appears to see the industry as the safety net for all ills. Insureds have been faced with dramatically increased premium, reduced limits, reduced coverage and reduced choice engendered by consolidation. It is time to reconfigure the linear approach into a more focused, concentric and inclusive electronic marketplace.

“AkinovA can be the marketplace to foster growth of an ecosystem of insureds, brokers, insurers, investors, analytics, data and service providers. This will then create the opportunities for true sustainable industry growth. Society's expectations can be best met by a reconfigured model that is able to anticipate and face challenges at scale. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to assist in delivering AkinovA’s vision.”

Henri Winand, AkinovA CEO, commented: “There is a galaxy of opportunities for AkinovA to address. AkinovA is able to serve small and large brokers alike and the insureds they represent to deliver deals they cannot find investors for. We are also able to provide capacity providers and investors with deal-flow they do not see today. I share Dennis’ view that reconfiguring the risk transfer cost chain will lead to rapid industry growth as well as new services and products alongside AkinovA’s marketplace.

“That’s why I am thrilled to have Dennis as part of the core team: he is a deep thinker who has an incredibly long track record of delivery with an obsessive focus on the end clients and an incredible global network to draw from. As evidenced by his chairmanship of the WIN, post 9/11 Troika and leadership position at ACORD, Dennis understands the value of neutral industry venues. He will chair our regulated business based in Bermuda just after it was granted its full global insurance ‘risks-meet-capital’ license. He will provide focus on key client-facing programs and new products as well as ensuring AkinovA remains neutral with the right governance structure and industry representation.”

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