Former Aon Chairman Backs MGU Start-Up

The founder and retired executive chairman of Aon Corp. is investing in a new managing general underwriter that will specialize in errors and omissions insurance.

Patrick G. Ryan has thrown his weight behind ThinkRisk Underwriting Agency, which plans to open for business in February and focus on underwriting and claims management for the converging areas of media, technology, advertising, privacy and network security. The company will write policies backed by Great American Insurance Group and will focus on professional liability.

"We're very flattered that [Ryan] has that level of confidence in what we are doing," said Leib Dodell, one of the three founders of ThinkRisk. Three industry veterans -- Dodell, Chad Milton, and Debra McClenahan -- will run the day-to-day operations while Ryan will serve as the company's chairman.

Dodell was president and CEO of Media/ Professional Insurance, a global underwriter of specialty errors and omissions insurance, including media liability, miscellaneous E&O, and cyber/technology insurance, from 2004 to 2009.

Taking a break from looking at office space in Kansas City, where the new company will locate for business, Dodell said the company's founders see a rich opportunity in specializing in this business.

"Historically, these lines of business have been underwritten separately. Companies have had a media liability practice and a separate tech practice," Dodell said. "That may have made sense in the past, but now we see the businesses converging, and it's hard to say what is a media company and what is a tech company. Everyone is using Web sites, Facebook and Twitter to deliver messages, whether you are a media company, a tech company or an ordinary commercial company."

Companies that are neither media companies nor tech companies -- such a main street bike shop -- might have both media and tech liability exposures, he said.

"Commercial businesses of any magnitude have lots of different tools to get their messages out. They are beginning to look more like publishers," Dodell said. Traditional commercial companies used to depend on general liability insurance, but its coverage for media and tech exposures is limited, he said. Meanwhile, media and tech companies have been turning to the speciality E&O market for cover.

Five years ago, most submissions in this area were from publishers or software developers, he said. "In the last year or so, we've seen other companies -- hospitality, retail companies -- coming in with these same exposures," Dodell said. "It's an evolutionary period in the marketplace. We want to develop educational material to educate the buying public and brokerage community about the availability of this special cover."

The other founders of the company are Milton, who was the national practice leader for media and intellectual property at Marsh from August 2000 to July 2009, and McClenahan, who served as the CEO of Aon Underwriting Managers from 2004 to 2007.

Great American Insurance Group currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).

(By Meg Green, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])