R&Q appoints executive deputy chairman

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings (R&Q), a non-life legacy insurance investor and capacity provider of US and European MGA program business, has appointed William Spiegel as executive director and deputy group chairman, effective immediately.

Spiegel’s appointment forms part of R&Q’s management succession plan and he will assume the position of executive group chairman when R&Q co-founder, Ken Randall, steps down in around 12 months after 29 years at the helm.

Spiegel will be based in R&Q’s New York office, and report to Ken Randall. He will focus on the strategic development and expansion of the group. There will be a gradual handover of Randall’s current responsibilities to Spiegel during 2020.

In consequence of Spiegel's appointment and to position the group to manage the expected expansion is business in the US and Europe, R&Q expects to make a small number of additional appointments, including the appointment of a new group chief financial officer. There will also be some realignment of internal management reporting lines and responsibilities.

Spiegel is joining R&Q from the US private equity firm Pine Brook where he was managing partner and which he co-founded in 2006. He was responsible for managing Pine Brook’s financial services investing activities. He was also a member of the firm’s investment committee and management committee.

He has 30 years of private equity experience and has been a financial services growth investor since 2001. A significant part of his experience has been in building and growing insurance companies in both the US and the UK. He has, through his work in private equity, been a founding investor and/or board member of many insurance companies including Catlin Group, Clear Blue Insurance Group, Essent Group, Fidelis Insurance, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Lancashire Group, Montpelier Re, Narraganset Bay Insurance and Third Point Reinsurance.

Prior to co-founding Pine Brook, he was with The Cypress Group from its inception in 1994 until 2006, leading its financial services and healthcare investing activities. Prior to Cypress, he worked in the Merchant Banking Group at Lehman Brothers. He has served on the board of directors of 20 companies, including seven publicly traded corporations. He is currently a member of The Polsky Council of The University of Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and its Private Equity Council.

Ken Randall, group executive chairman, said: “I am delighted to welcome an industry professional of William’s calibre to the senior leadership team at R&Q. I have known William and followed his career for many years and I know R&Q will hugely benefit from his expertise in managing and growing leading insurance businesses.

“As our program management business becomes ever more strategically important, with an expected $1billion per annum of future contracted business during 2020, I am particularly excited by William’s expertise in this area and his ability to further build on the division’s significant growth potential.

“As well as his unique sector credentials, William crucially shares the same vision and values for R&Q and this, combined with his energetic approach, means he is ideally suited to take the business forward on the next stage of its ambitious growth strategy.

“I am extremely proud of what R&Q has achieved since Alan and I founded the business 29 years ago and attracting William to R&Q is testament to how far the business has come during that time and the unique talent that we have across the firm.

“The business is in good shape, delivering record profitable growth and progressing with our objective of becoming the leading provider of legacy and program management solutions. But there is so much more to be achieved and now is the right time for me to start handing over the reins to R&Q’s future leadership. I look forward to working with William and the team over the course of 2020 as the transition takes place.”

Spiegel added: “It is a huge honour to be given this opportunity and I am looking forward to applying my 30 years of experience to R&Q. I have built my career on growing financial services companies in the US and the UK with a particular emphasis on insurance and insurance services. Under Ken and Alan’s leadership R&Q has undergone a significant transformation in the last few years and it has focussed on two of the fastest growing and most interesting areas of insurance. It will be my priority to continue to deliver profitable growth and build on R&Q’s tremendous success.”