Concert launches & capitalises Harmony Re sidecar, aims to attract third-party capital

Concert Group Holdings, Inc., a privately owned insurance holding company and fronting specialist, has launched and capitalised a new reinsurance sidecar named Harmony Re, Inc., which while termed a risk retention platform is also set to be positioned to attract third-party capital in future as well, Artemis has learned.

Concert said today that Harmony Re, Inc. has been fully operationalised and established with a board of directors in place and that Katarina Scamborova has been newly-hired from her most recent role with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions to lead the sidecar platform forward.

Concert said that Harmony Re has first been established as a risk retention platform and the company confirmed to Artemis that it has been capitalised by the company for its launch.

But the longer-term plan is to welcome third-party investor capital to support the Harmony Re sidecar, the company confirmed to us, as Concert looks to build it out into an aligned capital companion vehicle for its underwriting businesses.

Katarina Scamborova played an instrumental role in establishing Harmony Re, the company said, and she has now been appointed to the position of President, reporting to Concert’s Chief Executive Officer, John Hendrickson.

“We’re delighted to welcome Katarina to our executive team at Concert,” Hendrickson commented. “Working in collaboration with Chief Underwriting Officer Joe Alberti, she has been invaluable in creating the foundation for Harmony Re. We know that under her expert guidance, and with her deep underwriting and operational expertise, our new risk retention vehicle will flourish.”

Harmony Re’s role as part of Concert Group will be to assume risk for its insurance carriers, Concert Insurance Company and Concert Specialty Insurance Company, operating with a focus on portfolio diversification, risk and capital management.

“As Concert’s wholly owned reinsurance sidecar, Harmony Re is the group’s balance sheet entity that assumes risk from Concert’s carriers and generates insurance profits with a keen focus on portfolio diversification, risk and capital management,” explained Concert CUO Joe Alberti. “The platform provides the company with a second line of defense on portfolio and risk management, as well as additional flexibility in meeting the market’s needs.

“Harmony Re is another example of how, as a hybrid fronting carrier, Concert continues to develop differentiated innovative solutions for the top tier reinsurers with whom we partner.”

Scamborova was a Managing Director at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in her most recent industry role and her career also includes seven years at AIG as a senior executive in its General Insurance business segment, as well as two years at McKinsey & Company where she was P&C Insurance Industry Leader.

Harmony Re has been established with a Board of Directors that includes Frank Papalia as its Chair (most recently Chief Legal Officer and Head of Claims at ProSight Global), Charlie Kline (a Managing Director at Century Equity Partners and formerly CEO of insurer Homesite Group) and Dave Hupp (a longstanding senior AIG executive), as well as Concert Chief Legal Officer Matthew Wagner and Laura Rodrigo (Managing Director of independent insurance manager Strategic Risk Solutions).

For an insurance group like Concert, that specialises in fronting for captive and program management market segments and leverages reinsurer relationships, the launch of Harmony Re will add balance-sheet and capital source flexibility, allowing the company to both retain more earnings from business it fronts for, as well as work with third-party capital investors to augment its capacity to underwrite.