Bishop Street Underwriters launches MGA incubator
Bishop Street Underwriters, a RedBird Capital Partners portfolio company, announced the rollout of Bishop Street Program Managers, an incubator for developing managing general agents. Embedded within the Bishop Street ecosystem, Bishop Street Program Managers will partner with entrepreneurial underwriters to capitalize on emergent trends across the insurance industry and jumpstart the launch of specialty MGAs.
BSPM will provide the infrastructure, back-office capabilities, capital capacity and insurer relationships necessary to bring de novo specialized insurance opportunities to market at speed. As part of BSPM, underwriters will benefit from exposure to Bishop Street’s comprehensive shared services model, enhancing business operations across compliance, technology, distribution and data analytics, with support from an embedded AI-enhanced underwriting workbench. With a turnkey system setup customizable to specific niches, BSPM can bring new MGAs to market as quick as 90 days.
To support the rollout of BSPM, as well as broader strategic initiatives, Bishop Street has also announced a sequence of executive leadership hires, further rounding out the firm’s executive team with a deep bench of talent and expertise:
- Luke Porter, President of Bishop Street Program Managers – A career underwriter and industry veteran with specialized experience implementing and managing de novo programs and insurtech platforms, Luke will lead Bishop Street’s MGA incubator. He joins from Mission Underwriters, where he managed program rollout and expansion efforts across the firm’s portfolio.
- Andrew Shrout, CPCU, Chief Strategy Officer of Bishop Street Program Managers – As Chief Strategy Officer, Andrew will rely on decades of experience in strategic marketing, organizational transformation and operational sustainability to drive the execution of BSPM’s long-term growth strategy.
“Operating within the Bishop Street platform truly makes our incubator program unique in the de novo space. With established insurer relationships, multi-faceted leadership expertise and a myriad of distribution opportunities, we take the grunt work out of launching a specialty MGA. I look forward to helping entrepreneurial underwriters own their niche — launching fully operational programs faster, more efficiently and with advanced data, compliance and distribution tools built in from day one.” – Luke Porter, President of Bishop Street Program Managers.
“Our proven track record in M&A to date has created the ideal foundation for a platform that can bring quality MGAs to market at speed, supported by cross-platform resources and industry leading technology. As we focus on accelerating growth and building long-term value across the portfolio, we’re pleased to roll out Bishop Street Program Managers as a complementary offering to help launch the MGAs of the future. With Luke and Andrew’s expertise and our platform capabilities, we’re positioned to be the partner of choice for underwriters with niche expertise and an appetite for growth.” – Chad Levine, CEO of Bishop Street.
“Looking across the Bishop Street portfolio from a macro perspective, establishing incubator capabilities is the logical next step as the firm continues to execute on innovative growth strategies and initiatives. The addition of Luke, Andrew and Dan enhances Bishop Street’s best-in-class team with market-specific specialized expertise to support sustainable long-term growth.” – Mike Zabik, Partner at RedBird Capital Partners.
