Industry veteran Price to ‘shake up’ sector with start-up Fenchurch and Partners

Industry veteran David Price has launched a new broker, which he claims will “shake up the market, attract best-of-breed talent, and utilise cutting-edge technology”. He is targeting £20 million of premiums in its first year.

Fenchurch and Partners, an appointed representative of Bennett Gould & Partners (Dorset), will have a specialist focus on US, Canadian, and European P&C lines, including catastrophe property, trucking, binding authorities, parametric covers, and accident & health.

He said the new venture will operate a lean, legacy-free model, using the latest cloud-based technologies to trade digitally with markets and clients. It will be totally paperless, with brokers able to log on anywhere in the world. It will also return 10 percent of its profits to charitable projects.

In his previous position as divisional director at Endeavour, a US delegated authority specialist business, Price produced a book of specialist business from the US, Canada, and Europe. Before this, he was Beazley’s head of broker relations for London and Europe, and spent four years in the US helping Beazley with distribution.

Price is joined by non-executive director and co-founder Brett Lee. Lee spent over two decades in banking and derivatives at Deutsche Bank and Janus Capital. More recently, he held senior roles at HSBC in the UK and at Picket Asset Management.

Price said: “In a market dominated by mega-brokers, we saw a huge opportunity to set up a next-gen broker with a fresh approach that will appeal to top talent and clients alike. Our focus is on transactions only where we add value, such as ‘hard to place risks’, which are either capacity driven or require a unique, bespoke solution.

“We are utilising an employee/partner model, increasingly common among London broking start-ups, to attract top talent looking for a fresh challenge and a big opportunity,” he continued. “At Fenchurch, we have a transparent remuneration plan, and every employee will be able to become a partner and purchase equity after a period of 12- to 18-months.”

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