By James Thaler

March 3 - (The Insurer) - Global Indemnity has hired former Innovisk Capital Partners president Praveen Reddy as CEO of its MGA operations, Penn-America Underwriters, a move that comes after the insurer in January separated its underwriting operations from its balance sheet entities.

In late January, Global Indemnity announced that it completed an “extensive” reorganisation code-named “Project Manifest” that involved the creation of wholesale commercial, vacant express, collectibles and specialty products divisions, separate tech and claims businesses, and the de-stacking of its insurance companies.

Penn-America Underwriters is a newly formed subsidiary established through the restructuring, and is Global Indemnity’s distribution and specialised services group that focuses on the underwriting, growth and distribution of insurance products, technology services and claims services.

The move to de-stack the insurance companies has resulted in an increased consolidated surplus, which the company said would allow for more efficient management of capital and liquidity.

Global Indemnity said the new divisional operating structure enhances the Penn-America operation by creating separate and distinct businesses for each division, which will improve branding, attract talent and expand relationships with its distribution partners.

The company added that the newly formed Kaleidoscope Insurance Technologies and claims business Liberty Insurance Adjustment Agency will continue to support Penn-America and create the foundation to offer products and services to other insurance industry participants.

Fox Paine & Company, the private equity and advisory firm owned by Global Indemnity chairman Saul Fox, was the company’s financial advisor for Project Manifest.

In December 2023, Global Indemnity said it had suspended an exploration of a sale of either itself or its Penn-America subsidiary.

On the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call, CEO Jay Brown said Global Indemnity had held M&A conversations with James River but they were “on pause” at the time.

In June 2023, Global Indemnity had announced that multiple parties had expressed preliminary interest in a variety of potential deals to acquire or merge with SME-focused Penn-America, or possibly a transaction for the entire business.

Reddy’s appointment was announced in an internal memo to staff Monday afternoon sent by Global Indemnity CEO Jay Brown and seen by Program Manager, with the CEO saying that the appointment marks a continuation of Project Manifest.

Brown said that Reddy’s appointment would enhance Global Indemnity’s ability to serve its existing agency partners and to bring additional products and services to its customers.

Reddy joined Innovisk in June 2024 as global president and COO, before Ryan Specialty announced in October that it was acquiring the UK-headquartered firm.

Before Innovisk, Reddy previously spent eight years with property cat MGA Velocity Risk, latterly as COO.

Reddy was with Velocity from its founding in 2015 and played a significant role in building and scaling the operation. Velocity Risk was sold to Oaktree in 2022 and subsequently sold to Ryan Specialty earlier this year.

The Nashville-based executive had previously been with Aon Affinity/Programs and Marsh Affinity in leadership roles for about 10 years and has been in the MGA space for about 20 years. He also previously worked at KPMG and at Majesco.

Reddy also served on the panel of judges for last year’s annual Program Manager Awards.

A spokesperson for Global Indemnity confirmed Reddy’s appointment.