New specialty risks MGU led by former AIG/Beazley/JLT veteran enters market

A new global specialty managing general underwriter (MGU) dedicated to underwriting, structuring and insuring specialty risks has been launched in the US, led by an industry veteran who previously held senior roles at NFP, JLT, AIG and Beazley.

Palisade Insurance Partners specialises in litigation-related insurance, contingent risks, and transaction insurance, including rep & warranty and tax insurance.

It will begin offering a range of contingent legal risk insurance and other specialty insurance products across the US and international markets in the second half of 2022.

Headquartered in New York, Palisade is led by president John McNally (pictured), an insurance industry veteran who most recently led NFP’s Merger & Acquisition Risk Solutions Group focused on transaction insurance.

Previously, McNally led the transaction insurance practice at JLT Specialty USA and has held senior underwriting roles at AIG and Beazley Group in New York and London.

Palisade sees a growing demand for specialised insurance capacity across the legal spectrum, including from corporate clients, law firms, asset management funds, specialty finance vehicles and litigation finance firms.

“The needs of corporate clients, asset managers, and others for insurance solutions to mitigate and manage contingent legal risks has outgrown available market capacity considerably,” said McNally. For context, the global litigation finance market is estimated at a nearly $12bn annual industry, with significant year-over-year growth, while the global legal services industry is expected to exceed $1tn in fee revenue by 2022.

“This significant momentum in other areas of legal services and legal risk management has far outpaced the development of the insurance market in this area, creating a strong demand for insurance capacity covering these risks and a dedicated platform with the expertise to underwrite them.”

He added: “Palisade is ideally positioned to meet the sector demand by leveraging our expertise to deliver solutions uniquely tailored to address litigation and other contingent risks. We look forward to scaling our team of risk and underwriting professionals as we begin to offer products later this year.”

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