Company prefers to grow through M&A, says chief executive

Colin Thompson, Nexus

Specialty managing general agency (MGA) Nexus expects to write gross premium of more than $100m (£67m) in 2013.

It says this will make it the largest independent MGA in the London market. Unlike many MGAs, which are owned by insurers or brokers, Nexus is backed by private equity.

Nexus chief executive Colin Thompson (pictured)  said: “We are achieving what we set out to do, providing dynamic and economical growth into specialty lines for our insurers, backed up with excellent service and cutting-edge products, all strengthened by a first-class Nexus portfolio.”

He added: ”Although we are not averse to organic development, our preference is to grow via mergers and acquisitions.”

The £100m gross written premium is spread over Nexus’s 12 capacity providers, which include Lloyd’s insurers Liberty, Novae and Canopius.

The MGA writes in four areas: directors’ and officers’ liability, financial institutions, professional indemnity and trade credit.

Its four underwriting subsidiaries are Nexus Professional Risks, Nexus Financial Products, Nexus CIFS and Torus Executive Risks.

The most recently formed subsidiary is the trade credit-focused Nexus CIFS, which launched in January this year after Nexus bought Credit Indemnity and Financial Services from Novae.

Recent hires include credit control manager Lisa Hams, who joins from ProSite, and Nigel Cotton as group chief financial officer, who was previously finance director at Lloyd’s broker RFIB.