London-based Specialist Risk Group has launched in Australia, targeting the mid-market space.

The underwriting agency and broking group is backed by private equity investor Warburg Pincus, German broker Ecclesia and Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek.

The move expands SRG’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, where it already has a Singapore office.

SRG says it enters Australia as an “agile challenger”, combining international specialist capability with a local team that brings long-standing relationships and understanding of the market and complex and hard to place risks.

“The launch of SRG in Australia is a natural next step in the international strategy we have been executing over recent years, following our expansion into Asia-Pacific and the development of our European platform,” group CEO Warren Downey said.

“Our ambition is to build a genuinely international specialist insurance group, focused on markets where deep expertise, strong relationships and access to international capability really matter.”

He says Australia is a “sophisticated, outward-looking market, and by combining high-quality local leadership with the strength of our international platform, we are continuing to build SRG in a way that is deliberate, connected and designed for long-term growth”.

SRG Australia MD Laurence Basell will lead the local team. He was Honan Insurance COO before it was acquired by Marsh in 2023.

“Opening in Sydney and Melbourne is just the start … there is a real opportunity to do things differently here, combining strong local relationships with the international strength of the wider SRG platform, supported by technology that makes it easier to work with us and delivers a straightforward, high-quality experience for clients and partners,” he said.

Mr Basell told insuranceNEWS.com.au mid-market companies are not simply smaller enterprise clients.

“They require specialist advice, tailored risk solutions and responsive support, which can be harder to deliver within large, centralised models,” he said. “While the mid-market was once crowded, recent consolidation across the insurance sector has seen larger firms increasingly focus on complex, high-value enterprise accounts, which has created gaps in service for mid-market clients.  

“As businesses are absorbed into bigger networks, relationships can become more diluted and service models more standardised, leaving mid-market organisations without the specialist advice, speed and flexibility they need.”