Augment names Andrew Matson CEO, as aims to “revolutionise reinsurance”

Altamont Capital backed risk capital and reinsurance solutions broking start-up Augment Risk has set itself a tough goal to revolutionise reinsurance with a client-focused approach to broking and has today announced its hiring of former Aon and McGill exec Andrew Matson as its first CEO.

Augment Risk launched as a new challenger reinsurance broker earlier this year, backed with up to $100 million in funding from private equity firm, Altamont Capital Partners.

The company is adopting a whole-of-business approach to reinsurance broking, saying that it wants to follow a “client, not class of business” strategy.

The broker says it has already bound $1 billion of premium in its first year of business, a significant amount for s start-up and has now officially announced Andrew Matson as its Chief Executive Officer, tasked with building on top of this traction.

“Augment Risk was founded to address a fundamental structural problem in the insurance and reinsurance markets. We champion the need for a shift from outdated practices of ‘products sold at prices’ to better cater to our clients’ needs,” Matson explained. “I am thrilled to work with some of the most exceptional talent in the industry. We believe we can transform reinsurance broking for the better by focusing on our client’s entire business, creating partnerships with reinsurers, and enhancing equity value by better managing capital, reducing earnings volatility, and expanding the margins of our clients. Our approach has never been done at this scale.”

Matson has a track-record based on two decades spent in the market at Aon Benfield, Aon and most recently McGill and Partners, as well as expertise across casualty treaty, weather and cat reinsurance, portfolio broking and MGA business, as well as structured solutions.

“Andrew has the experience and conviction to lead Augment Risk’s next chapter of growth, and we are pleased to welcome him as CEO,” Sam Gaynor, Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners commented. “Augment Risk addresses a clear market need to help global customers manage complex risk capital challenges based on efficiency, with a model poised to transform the reinsurance industry.”

“Augment Risk provides the depth and breadth of expertise to ensure leaders of global companies have the capital, tools, and strategic insights necessary to thrive in a complex, often volatile environment; a one-size-fits-all approach to reinsurance doesn’t work and isn’t always in the best interest of their businesses,” added Keoni Schwartz, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners. “This puts Augment Risk in a completely different category of reinsurance, building a new market in the industry to deliver better outcomes for these businesses.”

Augment Risk is also capital focused and says that the need to manage capital more efficiently has never been greater in reinsurance.

The company explained, “At the heart of Augment Risk’s approach is a relentless focus on the client’s balance sheet, where capital has been blocked from being put to its best use due to operational complexity, vertical barriers, and mismanagement of risks. Augment Risk unlocks this opportunity by managing volatility through tailored solutions that are meticulously crafted to optimize enterprise value and are agnostic toward all forms of capital—a key differentiation from the conventional one-size-fits-all approach. ”

It’s a lofty mission to deliver on reinsurance broking in a different way, more client-centric, with a single company P&L, enabling agnostic risk capital and risk transfer advice to be delivered, with structures from across the business made available to clients.