Bishop Street Underwriters, owned by RedBird Capital Partners, has forayed into commercial lines with the purchase of Conifer Insurance Services.
Financial terms of the transaction, which expands Bishop Street’s multiline MGA platform, were not disclosed.
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Conifer, a specialty commercial MGA, operates a portfolio of three programmes across several specialty lines of business including small and medium-sized enterprises, hospitality and auto dealers.
Its infrastructure is expected to offer Bishop Street a growth opportunity, enabling further scale through geographic expansion, new product development and add-on acquisition synergies.
Established in 2023, US-based Bishop Street aims to partner with MGAs and niche underwriting teams, combining their vision with RedBird’s expertise in the financial services sector to build a differentiated platform.
Bishop Street CEO Chad Levine said: “We are excited to add Conifer to the Bishop Street platform as part of our strategic expansion. Conifer has transitioned to a specialty MGA over the last year, and this strategic carrier carve-out will serve as a strong foundation that checks many boxes as our first commercial platform acquisition.”
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By GlobalDataConifer Insurance Services CEO Nick Petcoff said: “Conifer’s 70+ colleagues are excited to join Bishop Street’s platform and tap into the expertise of their experienced team. With their strong backing of strategic partners and capital resources, we are confident we can continue to exceed client expectations by delivering highly tailored insurance solutions and exceptional service.
“We are already working with Bishop Street to build in new underwriting technology capabilities as well as expand distribution and capacity for new programmes and acquisitions we have on our radar.”
Earlier this week, Bishop Street formed a joint venture (JV) with Skyward Specialty Insurance Group.
This JV aims to set to speed up Bishop Street’s ability to strengthen MGAs and support programme expansion, new product launches and underwriting team lift-outs with preferred admitted and excess and surplus capacity.
In March, Bishop Street also set up a JV with Topsail Reinsurance (Topsail Re).
As per the agreement, Topsail Re will co-invest in Bishop Street, driving value for MGAs and programme administrators within the Bishop Street ecosystem by providing preferred capacity and access to Topsail Re’s underwriting and administrative expertise.
This investment will also aid in fostering new primary, fronting and reinsurance carrier relationships for programme expansion and new launches.
