Skyward Specialty Surety Division Names New Transactional Leader and Expands Portfolio Into Cannabis Market

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc. ("Skyward Specialty" or the "Company"), a leader in the specialty property and casualty market, has selected a new leader in Transactional Commercial Surety and added cannabis to its transactional surety portfolio.

John Denton has been named Transactional Surety Leader and is tasked with expanding the Company's transactional commercial surety footprint nationally. Denton brings more than eight years of industry experience in various positions, including in commercial claims and excess and surplus lines underwriting, and most recently, at a prominent MGA, managing a large volume of transactional surety bonds.

"Skyward Specialty prides itself on creating an environment where employees can learn and grow. It has been my experience that Skyward Specialty is committed to investing heavily in its people, no matter their tenure with the Company," said Denton. "I have developed invaluable relationships with our Surety team members and partner companies since joining the Company. I am excited to lead the team as we continue to identify innovative capacity opportunities and meet growing market demand."

The Company most recently targeted cannabis bonds as an addition to its transactional surety portfolio, marking the third cannabis-related product Skyward Specialty has added in recent months.

"We recognized a gap in the market due to the challenging nature of the cannabis industry. So our team quickly developed a strategy to offer our agency partners a competitive solution that will help meet market demand," said Chris Gagnon, Vice President, Head of Commercial Surety. "We are confident cannabis bonds will become a true differentiator within our overall transactional portfolio. And with the addition of John to our surety leadership team, we are well-positioned to provide the exceptional service our partners have come to expect."

Skyward Specialty is dedicated to strengthening its position in the surety market.

"Our team of Surety leaders are consistently pursuing new product opportunities and partnerships. And we've had impressive success growing our Surety organization, which has tripled in size since 2020, to support the rapid growth trends in the industry," said Matt Semeraro, Senior Vice President, Head of Surety. "We are steadfastly committed to creating a world-class Surety operation at Skyward Specialty."

ABOUT SKYWARD SPECIALTY

Skyward Specialty is a growing specialty insurance company, delivering commercial property and casualty products and solutions on a non-admitted and admitted basis. For its most recent fiscal year, the Company had nearly one billion dollars in gross written premium. The Company has eight underwriting divisions -- Accident & Health, Captives, Global Property, Industry Solutions, Professional Lines, Programs, Surety and Transactional E&S – with a total of 12 underwriting units.

Skyward Specialty's subsidiary insurance companies consist of Houston Specialty Insurance Company, Imperium Insurance Company, Great Midwest Insurance Company, and Oklahoma Specialty Insurance Company. These insurance companies are rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. For more information about Skyward Specialty, its people, and its products, please visit www.skywardinsurance.com.

src="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=bwnewssty=20220414005548r1sid=acqr8distro=nxlang=en" style="width:0;height:0" />

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220414005548/en/

MEDIA CONTACT
Haley Doughty
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

713-935-4944

hdoughty@skywardinsurance.com

Source: Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.