Aon has launched a new platform that will match insurance underwriting expertise with capacity provision through fronting, managing general agent (MGA)/managing general underwriter and captive solutions.
The Alternative Distribution platform, which will include the previous global MGA and portfolio solutions businesses, aims to make a broad range of risk capital available to Aon’s clients by working with fronting structures and accessing capabilities from across the firm.
It will also provide the necessary supporting infrastructure, licensing and servicing resources.
The platform, Alternative Distribution, will be led by Graeme Rayner, who will join Aon on 1 January 2021, as CEO of Alternative Distribution, reporting to Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions.
Rayner brings more than 30 years of multi-class underwriting experience across Lloyd’s syndicate, company and MGA platforms.
Prior to joining Aon, he was group director of underwriting and active underwriter at Pioneer Underwriters, and previously chief underwriting officer and active underwriter at Mitsui Sumitomo Underwriting.
He also served as managing director of commercial insurance at QBE Insurance (Europe) and has held senior positions at Zurich Re (UK) and Johnson and Higgins Insurance Brokers.
Commenting on Rayner’s appointment, Frankland said: “We are immensely fortunate to have someone of Graeme Rayner’s proven calibre joining the firm at such a moment of opportunity for the entrepreneurial underwriting model in London. His appointment and the creation of the Alternative Distribution platform reflect Aon’s commitment to meeting client needs and building a market-leading proposition in the MGA and third-party underwriting service sector.”
“Through this initiative, Aon aims to facilitate and improve capital deployment in this area, at a time when the market is undergoing significant challenges and change that will create opportunities for appropriately aligned underwriting structures and organisations,” he concluded.