During his time at Willis, Kael Coleman (pictured above, left) says he recognized that there was a significant demand for supplier diversity from Fortune 1000 and government entities. Eventually, he thought, "why couldn't we create a company that has the expertise, the market access and infrastructure to help the market achieve its supplier diversity goals?" (Photo: Protecdiv)
Protecdiv, the first tier-one minority-led insurance and reinsurance broker in the United States, has launched in Philadelphia.
Led by founder and CEO Kael Coleman and Chief Operating Officer Paul Little, Protecdiv plans to target Fortune 2000 clients with an initial focus on auto manufacturers, suppliers and financial institutions. They will work with these large publicly-traded and privately-held companies as well as government and government-related entities to provide specialty insurance solutions.
In the reinsurance sector, the company will focus on providing innovative risk transfer solutions to large and specialty insurers. In the mortgage markets, the broker will deliver credit risk transfer services to U.S. government-sponsored enterprises, mortgage insurers, banks and other asset holders.
|The past and present collide
Prior to Protecdiv, Coleman led the global mortgage reinsurance team at Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of Willis Towers Watson. He was a senior broker at Guy Carpenter and at Holborn.
Before Protecdiv, Little founded and was president of Maxfield Risk Consulting. Before forming Maxfield, Little was CEO at Ultimate Risk Solutions.
After the two met and worked closely at Holborn Corporation, they went their separate ways but remained close business colleagues and friends. After Coleman resigned from Willis in November 2018, he incorporated Protecdiv the next month. Little joined the leadership in January 2019. Then they spent 2019 building on the business plan, talking to investors, making key hires and building out the infrastructure.
In five years, the specialty U.S. property & casualty brokerage is aiming for $100 million in revenue, with over 100 employees and clients. They have built models and set targets for the next six years to know where they are relative to their growth plan at the end of each year.
|Emphasis on diversity
During his time at Willis, Coleman says he recognized that there was significant demand for supplier diversity from Fortune 1000 and government entities. Eventually, he thought, "Why couldn't we create a company that has the expertise, the market access and infrastructure to help the market achieve its supplier diversity goals?"
At a time when the property & casualty insurance industry is struggling to diversify and retain its talent pool, Coleman says, "We are letting people know that diverse backgrounds and perspectives will be represented at all levels and functions within Protecdiv." He believes that if he and Little can create a profitable company built on diversity of thought and background, "retaining top talent will not be a cause for concern."
"Many companies have recognized that workplace diversity is a vital part of their business models — that diversity of thought leads to significantly better business results. That view is growing in many U.S. companies and government contracts, where the issue of diversity is being taken much more seriously than ever before," says Coleman. "We are bringing together a very diverse and exceptional employee base and combining it with top technology, data analytics and an exceptional overall service offering. We want to bring new diversity of thought to the market and make a differential impact for our clients — while at the same time helping Fortune 2000 companies to fulfill their supplier diversity mandates."
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Denny Jacob
Denny Jacob is an associate editor for NU PropertyCasualty360. Contact him at [email protected].
