Profile
Jay Patel serves as chief of staff and head of strategy at Bold Penguin, where he leads high-impact strategic initiatives. He oversees build, buy, and partner analysis as well as complex strategic financial assessments, ensuring each department’s priorities align with the firm’s vision to become the premier digital broker for commercial insurance.
Patel brings 15 years of experience spanning private equity, venture capital, insurance, reinsurance, and startups. Prior to Bold Penguin, he served as AVP of strategic finance at Fortitude Re and held several emerging leader roles at both American Family Insurance and Allstate. Early in his career, he gained international experience through internships with Piton Capital and the European Investment Bank. Throughout these roles, he has led strategy, investment, capital raising, and M&A initiatives, most notably supporting American Family Insurance’s acquisition of Bold Penguin.
Patel holds a BS in business management from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, an MS in finance and investments from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, and an MPA in global public policy and economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was named a Marshall Scholar. He is a CFA® charterholder and holds the ARe™ designation.
6555 Longshore St, Suite 200, Dublin, OH 43017
818 519 1925
jay.patel@boldpenguin.com
linkedin.com/in/jayapatel
boldpenguin.com
Jay Patel
Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy Bold Penguin
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Bio
Milestones
2011
2016
2018
2021
2025
Started insurance career at Allstate in the Leadership Development Program
2011
Moved to London to study at the London School of Economics
2016
Joined American Family to create a social impact investment venture capital fund
2018
Joined Fortitude Re to help build a strategic finance function
2021
Joined Bold Penguin as Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy
2025
Milestones
“By focusing on doing the best possible job for every client, they naturally tell their friends and family. That organic growth has been very rewarding”
Alan Borthwick,
DUX Financial Services
“Our goal is not to speed up transactions but to slow down where it matters, taking the time to truly understand each client’s situation and deliver thoughtful, personalised guidance”
Alan Borthwick,
DUX Financial Services
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For Borthwick, satisfaction means delivering the result the client set out to achieve while keeping the process smooth and low stress during what can be an emotional time, such as buying a home. He says his greatest strength is cutting through complexity to find the best path forward, staying calm no matter how challenging the lending scenario.
While he has celebrated plenty of loan approvals that others said could not be done, the achievements that mean the most are different. What stands out most to him is helping clients pay off their mortgages far faster than they expected. “Seeing the real difference this makes to their financial freedom and peace of mind is incredibly rewarding,” he says.
Looking ahead, the targets are not about volume. Borthwick is aiming for higher client satisfaction and stronger long-term financial outcomes, with an ambition “to be known as the adviser clients can rely on for calm, considered advice in an increasingly digital world.”
It is an approach summed up by the team’s shared commitment: clear, practical mortgage and financial advice that reduces stress and builds lasting financial resilience for New Zealand families.