Ryan Specialty plots launch of three new MGUs and multiple M&A deals

Ryan Specialty Group is set to launch three new managing general underwriters (MGUs), including one focused on excess casualty lines while continuing to hunt for M&A amongst underwriting and broking names.

"We are working on launching three ... MGU's supported by highly rated carriers," founder and chairman Patrick Ryan (pictured) told the Q4 investor call.

"We are in the process of finalising the definitive agreement necessary to start underwriting business," he said. Details should be available by the time of the Q1 investor call, he indicated.

The move comes amid what Ryan sees as an "intensifying battle for specialty underwriters and market share."

One of the MGUs will be focused around excess casualty lines, director and president Timothy Turner indicated. Ryan Specialty Group has hired "several industry leaders" to an excess casualty MGU and are now "in the final stages" of securing capital.

M&A should also play a role, if the right opportunities present themselves. That means underwriters and brokers now, and a foray into employee benefits not far behind.

"Our M&A pipeline remains robust," Turner said. Excess liquidity present on the balance sheet is all earmarked for M&A.

The group is currently in "active dialogue with a number of potential partners, including several proprietary conversations," Ryan indicated.

"We are looking for A+ players who can leverage our platform to enhance their own growth profile," Ryan added, with vow he remains highly selective for strategic and cultural fit.

Current targets include "some moderate sizes" and "some smaller, but very strategic," Ryan said. Nothing on the order of the 2020 acquisition All Risks is likely.

The group is likely to hold M&A profile "pretty much in the average" of Ryan Specialty Group's M&A history excluding All Risks, he suggested.

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