Concert Group Holdings Inc., a privately owned insurance holding company dedicated to insurance fronting business, announced the formation of a second company in the group—an excess and surplus lines carrier.

Concert Specialty Insurance Company (CSIC), domiciled in Montana, joins Concert Insurance Company, the group’s admitted P/C carrier, which is domiciled in Illinois.

“We formed Concert to provide a higher level of client focus and responsiveness to captive and program clients that have been underserved,” said Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Reiss in a media statement. “With both an admitted and an E&S carrier, we now have the ability to write business on a broad basis, offering a full range of risk solutions to our clients.”

Separately, AM Best announced that the rating agency assigned a Financial Strength Rating of “A-” (Excellent) to Concert Specialty, with a stable outlook.

“The ratings reflect CSIC’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management,” Best said. The rating agency analysts considered a recent capital raise by CSIC’s owners, Freedom Underwriters LLC, Century Equity Partners and WT Holdings Inc., the announcement said, highlighting the fact that portions of the proceeds have been allocated downstream to the two insurance companies.

(Related article, “Concert Group Holdings Raises $100M to Fuel Insurance Fronting Expansion“)

The AM Best announcement also indicated that CSIC’s risk-adjusted capital level, measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is at the strongest level. Best believes the capital level can support planned growth initiatives and also highlighted the likelihood that Concert will increase its use of reinsurance over the next several years, noting that the management team has extensive relationships in both the traditional reinsurance and insurance-linked securities markets.

According to the AM Best announcement, CSIC intends to write on a surplus lines basis countrywide, except in Montana, where it will write on an admitted basis, with initial business plans to focus on captive-fronted business, diversified geographically and by line.

New business will also include traditional program business, with programs administered by managing general agencies and program administrators located across the United States.

“Our experienced team can deliver creative, customized solutions to MGAs, program administrators, captive managers and reinsurance partners, helping them serve customers and clients with evolving, hard-to-place risks,” said Reiss in the Concert media announcement.

Source: Concert Group Holdings Inc.