DALLAS – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Upland Capital Group (“Upland” or the “Company”) today announced the establishment of a specialty insurance business led by longtime insurance and investment managers. Upland plans to offer a diversified portfolio of casualty, property and specialty insurance products for excess and surplus (“E&S”) insurance, with an initial focus on excess casualty products sold through select wholesale brokers. Upland is funded through an equity investment of up to $ 200 million from Newlight Partners LP (“Newlight”), a growth investor, and an additional investment from the Company’s executive management team.
Upland has built a world-class team made up of seasoned underwriters and functional experts with an entrepreneurial spirit and a healthy respect for teamwork. A deep focus on transparency, efficiency and excellent customer service is embedded in the company’s core values.
The initial capital increase will fund the company’s immediate development and organic growth plans.
The Upland management team consists of:
-
Todd C. Hart, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer: Mr. Hart spent more than three decades in the financial services industry, most recently serving as CEO of Rhode Island-based Narraganset Bay Insurance Company.
-
James A. Damonte, President of Insurance and Chief Underwriting Officer: Mr. Damonte is a 20 year veteran specialty insurance company and has spent most of his career in leadership positions at Hallmark Financial Services and several other companies.
-
Mark J. Morrison, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Morrison has over 35 years of industry experience, including 14 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of specialty insurance carriers Hallmark Financial Services and Associates Insurance Company.
-
Pamela Byron-Button, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer: Ms. Byron-Button is a 30-year insurance industry veteran who most recently served as vice president of service operations for Narragansett Bay Insurance Company.
“From top to bottom, we’ve put together a very seasoned, seasoned team of talented leaders at Upland Capital Group,” said Hart. “The key to success is that our core group all worked together, built relationships based on trust and mutual respect, and brought complementary skills. We intend to build a company based on our core values of culture, service and support combined with modern problem solving to provide solutions to our clients’ specific insurance needs and requirements. ”
“We are delighted to be working with the seasoned Upland leadership team on this exciting new venture,” said Srdjan Vukovic, partner at Newlight. “Having worked closely with Todd Hart on numerous other endeavors over the past 15 years, we have seen firsthand his integrity and commitment to operational excellence. The Upland team brings extensive experience building profitable insurance platforms and shares our values and philosophy of building solid and sustainable businesses. We are confident that Upland will be well positioned to continue to be a first class specialist insurance company and partner to its customers. ”
About the Upland Capital Group
Upland Capital Group is an E&S provider of casualty, property and specialty insurance that was founded in 2020. Based in Dallas, Texas, Upland Capital is focused on becoming the most agile, disciplined, and profitable specialty insurer by building a great company where “we are entrepreneurs can do their underwriting craft. Upland Capital is funded by Newlight Partners and senior management with equity of over $ 200 million.
More information is available at www.uplandcapgroup.com.
About Newlight Partners LP
Newlight Partners LP is a growth equity firm focused on building businesses in partnership with founders and exceptional management teams. For more than 15 years, the Newlight team has helped build successful businesses in five sectors including telecommunications, financial services, energy and infrastructure, healthcare and business services. Under the leadership of David Wassong and Ravi Yadav, the Newlight team has invested around 6 billion US dollars in over 100 investments since 2005, initially as a Strategic Investments Group at Soros Fund Management LLC (Soros) and now as Newlight after the team was spun off from Soros in 2018. Newlight has approximately $ 4 billion of capital commitments and assets under management.
More information is available at www.newlightpartners.com.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/OR4ENKIGRNLQXDTK4Q5BMK7JNY.jpg "U.S. banking regulators engaged on local weather threat administration steerage, official says")
