NU Online News Service, Feb. 19, 3:40 p.m. EST

The economic downturn is a time of opportunity for insurance-related enterprises with the right strategy, according to Pat Ryan, the former chief executive of Aon Corp.

Mr. Ryan is doing more than talking the talk. He has two new ventures underway himself--Ryan Specialty Group and Ryan Specialty (Europe) Ltd.--that involve wholesale, MGA and brokerage service businesses.

Starting a wholesale business in the middle of a soft market, when demand suffers, might appear to be an unwise move, but Mr. Ryan believes otherwise, saying that the time is ripe for the business model he has brought to the marketplace.

"When there are problems, there are opportunities--and there are a lot of problems out there," he said. "There is a somewhat dysfunctional environment, with tremendous pressure on profitability. One would say, well, that's a bad time to do it, but I take the opposite [view] and say it's a great time to do it.

"I like businesses where you can differentiate yourself and the ones that we have in our vision, strategy, really allow for that differentiation--which are managing general underwriters, MGAs and wholesale," he added.

He admits there are financial pressures in the current business environment, but said, "there are also outstanding opportunities."

"I never look at [the market] as hard or soft in terms of appetite to be in business," Mr. Ryan continued. He explained that if one waited for a hard market to start a new business, they would probably miss the opportunity since it is usually short in duration compared to the extended years a soft market typically lasts.

Now, he said, is a great time to bring fresh capital to the table "and make a difference to the client."

Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) is aimed at providing specialty services to insurance brokers, agents and carriers, the company said. Its strategy is to develop MGUs, managing general agents, wholesale brokers, and a service platform for agents and brokers, he explained.

RSG will not include retail brokerage, reinsurance brokerage or human resource consulting.

RSG's first subsidiary, ThinkRisk of Kansas City, Mo., began business in December, to provide underwriting and claims management services for media, technology, advertising and network security. The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Leib Dodell. Mr. Ryan serves as chairman.

Its second subsidiary, Ryan Specialty (Europe) Ltd., launched earlier this month, is a United Kingdom-based MGU agency specializing in financial lines products including directors and officers, financial institution and professional liability products. The agency will be led by Malcolm Nightingale and Adam Barker.

Mr. Ryan said RSG is not related to Aon, where he retired as chairman in 2008, but he hopes it and the other major brokers, Marsh and Willis, will become clients.

RSG's aim, he said, is to provide services to the full range of agents and brokers from the mega-brokers, to regional and local brokers and agents, dealing with businesses from large to middle-market through smaller markets.

What will differentiate RSG from others in this segment is the attraction of "some unusually talented people who want to be a part of building and also create real added-value toward our clients," he observed.

It will also offer answers to those agents and brokers who need assistance and strategies in the technology and back-office processes that the large national and regional brokers have overcome through the economy of scale, he said.

As far as account size, while MGUs will target large to mid-market clients, RSG has the Web-based technology advantage to do a lot of smaller clients economically, Mr. Ryan noted.

Additional information about RSG is available at www.ryansg.com and ThinkRisk at www.ThinkRiskIns.com.