Profile
“Novum is focused on modernizing a problem that has been around for years – how do you digitally transact commercial insurance business in the most efficient way possible?”
Christopher Longo
Novum Underwriting Partners
Christopher M. Longo is CEO of Novum Underwriting Partners, founding the firm in 2019.
Under his leadership, the company has recorded its fourth year of exponential revenue growth and seen its proprietary online insurance marketplace attract over 7,000 retail agents.
He also drives Novum’s tech-led approach to solve every problem with data-driven decisions and artificial intelligence.
Longo says, “Novum is focused on modernizing a problem that has been around for years – how do you digitally transact commercial insurance business in the most efficient way possible? Our solutions are product agnostic and can be used in any segment, but we have chosen to initially focus on commercial insurance.”
6155 Rockside Road, Suite 308, Independence, OH 44131
888 304 7680
info@novumuw.com
linkedin.com/in/christopher-longo-novum
novumuw.com
Christopher Longo
Chief Executive Officer
Novum Underwriting Partners
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Bio
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Bio
Milestones
“I get motivation and satisfaction from creating things – being able to come up with data- and technology-driven solutions to solve problems that have been identified within the industry but have still not been acted upon”
Christopher Longo
Novum Underwriting Partners
2005
2006
2012
2016
2019
Named CIO of AmTrust, which operates on the software platforms that he and his team would build, and becomes a global leader in commercial insurance
2005
AmTrust Financial Services goes public on the NASDAQ
2006
Acquisition of GMAC Insurance, which eventually rebrands to National General and sells to Allstate for over $4 billion, publicly stating one of the key value drivers was the proprietary system that Longo and his team built
2012
Named Global COO of AmTrust Financial Services and AmTrust is named a Fortune 500 company the following year
2016
Exits AmTrust to found Novum Underwriting Partners, an MGA, brokerage, and insurance technology company that has rapidly grown while operating on its proprietary software platform
2019
Assistant Vice President and Senior Broker at MJ Hall & Company since 2018
Present
Milestones
Aug 2022
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
Prior to forming Novum, Longo was COO and CIO of successful global insurance provider AmTrust Financial, initially joining the firm in 2001.
“The biggest challenge relates to the size of our current platform. This progress is incredible, but it can be challenging if not frustrating to go from a company the size and scale of AmTrust to a much smaller platform.”
Illustrating his vision for Novum where only so many changes can be made in a company’s early life, he says, “What we do to overcome this challenge is to be exceptionally efficient at prioritizing what ideas and opportunities will have the greatest impact on the current company. You must have a thick skin when it comes to ideas as we are brutally honest with each other behind closed doors. I’m happy to report, our process is working very well and the biggest challenge we have is being patient.”
The difference in scale is also an opportunity that Longo anticipates exploiting and by extension disrupting the industry.
“I do miss not being at the helm of a large insurance carrier to drive some of this change – but now, operating as an MGA/wholesaler, we are uniquely positioned to have an impact on the entire industry, not just from one carriers’ point of view,” he explains. “Our focus is to change how wholesalers operate and revolutionize how retailers access markets.”
While at AmTrust, Longo’s leadership enabled the firm to successfully integrate more than 70 companies through acquisitions in multiple countries.
Discussing the qualities that have enabled him to be such an effective leader, Longo adds, “being able to quickly reduce large-scale complex problems into smaller digestible actionable items, understand the order in which they need to be executed, and how to attract the right talent to the project with the appropriate structure needed for success.”
And unlike many esteemed professionals, Longo is honest about when he will step aside and leave the industry.
“I get motivation and satisfaction from creating things – being able to come up with data- and technology-driven solutions to solve problems that have been identified within the industry but have still not been acted upon. When I feel the industry has caught up to where it should be, I’ll retire.”