CLS Risk Solutions, a leading MGA for legal indemnity and transactional property risk solutions, has announced the appointment of Tom O’Connor as CEO of the CLS group, including CLS Risk Solutions (CLS RS).
CLS RS removes uncertainty from property transactions and development projects by combining data, legal knowledge, technology and insurance capacity to create products and solutions for the UK and European property markets. It is a line of insurance with typically attractive broker commission rates, and interest in it has exploded in recent years with both the retail and commercial property market booms and a heightened awareness of the products’ capabilities.
All of the top brokers work with CLS RS and have specialist divisions offering these lines of insurance.
Tom O’Connor comes across to insurance with an illustrious 25 year long career spent mainly in asset management. He joins from Perdurance Asset Management where he was COO for the last five years, responsible for running the business. During his time there he and three colleagues founded and launched a large European equity hedge fund, raising $600m. Prior to that he was COO for Altis Partners, a $1.6bn systematic managed futures hedge fund. He has been appointed CEO of CLS to revise and manage the strategy, to drive growth in its specialist markets and develop new opportunities, particularly harnessing the power of data and capitalising on the collaborative strength that the CLS group has to offer.
Matt Le Breton, Chairman of CLS comments: “I’m delighted to welcome Tom on board. We have ambitious growth targets that will see CLS RS continue to grow fast in the next 36 months. The innovative property risks solutions that CLS has brought to the market are still relatively new, with some products more mature than others, but it has been a high growth area in Western Europe for insurers and brokers over the past decade and that growth is set to continue.
“The future potential is very exciting; in addition to our established portfolio, we have innovative new products entering the market, particularly in the area of data insight. Tom’s appointment will set a clear strategy for the group going forward that will capitalise on these new wave innovations to drive growth both for our broker partners and across the CLS group.”
Tom O’Connor comments: “We have a fantastic opportunity in this business. CLS RS already has an enviable reputation in the market, and amongst the top brokers it works with, for innovation and expertise. We are the leaders in the market for complex property risk solutions, but it’s an area of insurance that is little known and even less understood in the wider market – it has been a sleeping giant in many respects. The growth potential is huge across the product areas including Environmental, Legal & Structural Indemnities, Public Law and Rights of Light, but there is work to be done to raise awareness amongst brokers about the capabilities of these products.
“We have first rate capacity, innovation and expertise at our fingertips, and brokers have the client relationships and distribution capability. With the right collaborative approach, we aim to wake up this sleeping giant. Exciting times ahead.”
CLS RS will be exhibiting at BIBA for the first time this year and will be on stand G50 to speak to brokers about the potential in property transaction risks and indemnities.
For further information please contact: SJ Wrigley at Spotlight Consulting on 07909546104 or at sj@spotlightconsulting.co.uk
About CLS Risk Solutions
CLS Risk Solutions is a Top 5* leading MGA creating and providing risk solutions for real estate development projects and transactions. Established in 2010, it is part of the successful CLS group of companies with a turnover of circa £40m, employing 110 staff, with 7 businesses in 5 offices.
Its products include Legal Indemnities, Structural indemnities, Rights of Light Indemnities, Environmental Indemnities and Judicial Review/Planning Law Indemnities. Each product enables the client to define, quantify and transfer risk that is otherwise capable of frustrating the acquisition, funding, development or disposal of a real estate asset. CLS RS has an established reputation for innovation, expertise and service.
The CLS group includes seven interdependent businesses working in close collaboration:
– CLS Property Insight: a leading supplier of searches, insurance and data services to the UK property legal market
– CLS Data: Innovative solutions and products for the lender and surveying market
– Future Climate Info: Environmental Information market leader through progressive environmental data aggregation and supply
– Conveychoice: a legal services panel manager
– CLS Risk Solutions UK: a leading MGA for bespoke legal indemnity and transactional property risk solutions
– CLS Risk Solutions Europe: legal indemnities for renewable energy projects and real estate transactions in Europe
– CLS Group Services: One-stop service company for the CLS group of companies and their commercial partners