Industry veterans launch specialty insurer Upland Capital

A new specialty insurance company Upland Capital Group has been launched in the US by a group of re/insurance industry veterans from Hallmark Financial and Narraganset Bay.

Upland Capital is funded with over $200 million of equity line by growth equity investor Newlight Partners and the company's executive management.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Upland plans to offer a diversified portfolio of excess and surplus lines (E&S) casualty, property, and specialty insurance products, with an initial focus on excess casualty products distributed through select wholesale brokers.

The company intends to use initial capital raise to fund its build-out and support its organic growth plans.

Upland’s executive leadership team includes chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) Todd Hart; president of insurance operations and chief underwriting officer (CUO) James Damonte; executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) Mark Morrison; and senior vice president and chief administrative officer Pamela Byron-Button.

Hart has spent more than three decades in financial services, serving most recently as the CEO of Rhode Island-based Narraganset Bay Insurance Company.

Damonte is a specialty insurance underwriter and has spent the bulk of his 20-year career in executive leadership roles at Hallmark Financial Services and several other companies.

Morrison brings over 35 years of industry experience, including 14 years as the president & chief executive officer of specialty insurance carriers Hallmark Financial Services and Associates Insurance Company.

Byron-Button is a 30-year insurance industry veteran and most recently served as the vice president of service operations at Narragansett Bay Insurance Company.

Hart said: “From top to bottom, we have assembled a highly experienced, accomplished team of talented executives at Upland Capital Group. Key to success is that our core executive group has all worked together, developed relationships built on trust and mutual respect and bring complementary skill sets.

"We intend to build a company based on our core values of culture, service and support, combined with modern problem-solving to provide solutions to our customer’s specialty insurance needs and requirements.”

Srdjan Vukovic, a partner at Newlight, commented: “We are excited to be partnering with the accomplished Upland executive team on this exciting new venture. Having worked closely with Todd Hart on numerous other ventures over the past 15 years, we have seen firsthand his integrity and commitment to operational excellence. The Upland team brings substantial experience in building profitable insurance platforms and shares our values and philosophy of building sound, sustainable businesses. We are confident that Upland will be well positioned to become a best-in-class specialty insurance company and partner to its customers well into the future.”

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.