Headquarters:
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Year founded:
2001
Number of employees:
350
Phone:
1 866 788 3500
Email:
sales@payworks.ca
Website:
payworks.ca
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/450070
“While we enjoy growing, we really focus on improving our underwriting expertise to be sure we’re delivering greater than expected returns on capital for our carrier partners”
Ross Bowie,
Orchid Insurance
“Having capacity in a [catastrophe-prone market] has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners”
Kathy Cody,
Orchid Insurance
Orchid Underwriters Agency is a premier leader in program underwriting services and distribution of personal property insurance in catastrophe-prone states. For more than two decades, the company has helped brokers and capacity providers alike navigate their way through the toughest property markets in history.
What sets Orchid Insurance apart from its competitors is its sophistication and technical expertise on the underwriting side.
“When most people think about MGAs, they think about a team that is only focused on the top line,” says Ross Bowie, chief underwriting officer at Orchid Insurance. “While we enjoy growing, we really focus on improving our underwriting expertise to be sure we’re delivering greater than expected returns on capital for our carrier partners. Orchid consistently gets comments like, ‘You’re not an MGA, you’re a carrier!,’ and that makes us feel we are on the right track with our investments.
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SHIELDED INSURANCE BROKERS
Award Winner
ORCHID INSURANCE
Steve Carlsen
Chief Executive Officer
Katherine Cody
President and Chief Operating Officer
Ross Bowie
Chief Underwriting Officer
Leadership
Steve Carlsen was appointed CEO following his tenure as a board member since 2014 and chairman of the board from 2017 to 2019. He has a lifetime of insurance experience, having served as the chief underwriter, vice president, COO, director, and president of various underwriting and consulting companies. He began his 40-year career in the reinsurance industry at Swiss Re and NAC Re.
In 2001, Steve co-founded Endurance Specialty, where he served as chief underwriter and COO. He remained a director of Endurance until the company’s sale in 2017. He became a director at Orchid in 2014 when it first transitioned to private equity ownership and remains chair of the company’s underwriting committee.
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Carlsen
After three decades in the insurance industry, Kathy Cody joined Orchid Insurance as chief operating officer in August 2019 and was promoted to president in January 2021. She previously served as chief operating officer, personal lines, for Farmers Insurance Group. During her 10 years at Farmers, Kathy led personal lines underwriting, finance, analytics, operations, and strategy execution teams as well as serving as chief financial officer for the life business and led operational finance for Zurich Global Life North America.
Kathy is a member of the American Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Whitman Advisory Council for the Martin J Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.
President and Chief Operating Officer
Katherine Cody
Ross Bowie was promoted to chief underwriting officer in September 2021 after serving as head of personal lines since June 2020. His career has spanned the management of product, marketing, underwriting, and sales teams. Prior to joining Orchid, Ross served as senior vice president at Bankers Insurance Group, where he oversaw both personal and commercial lines as well as the development of new products in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ross Bowie
SPECIAL REPORT
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Bio
“While we enjoy growing, we really focus on improving our underwriting expertise to be sure we’re delivering greater than expected returns on capital for our carrier partners”
Ross Bowie, Orchid Insurance
“Having capacity in a [catastrophe-prone market] has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners”
Kathy Cody,
Orchid Insurance
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Award Winner
ORCHID INSURANCE
Carey Smith
Chief Information Officer
Katherine Cody
President and Chief Operating Officer
Steve Carlsen
Chief Executive Officer
Leadership
Headquarters:
Vero Beach, FL, USA
Year founded:
1998
Number of employees:
161
Phone:
772 226 5546
Email:
jschramm@orchidinsurance.com
Website:
orchidinsurance.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/orchid-insurance
Steve Carlsen was appointed CEO following his tenure as a board member since 2014 and chairman of the board from 2017 to 2019. He has a lifetime of insurance experience, having served as the chief underwriter, vice president, COO, director, and president of various underwriting and consulting companies. He began his 40-year career in the reinsurance industry at Swiss Re and NAC Re.
In 2001, Steve co-founded Endurance Specialty, where he served as chief underwriter and COO. He remained a director of Endurance until the company’s sale in 2017. He became a director at Orchid in 2014 when it first transitioned to private equity ownership and remains chair of the company’s underwriting committee.
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Carlsen
After three decades in the insurance industry, Kathy Cody joined Orchid Insurance as chief operating officer in August 2019 and was promoted to president in January 2021. She previously served as chief operating officer, personal lines, for Farmers Insurance Group. During her 10 years at Farmers, Kathy led personal lines underwriting, finance, analytics, operations, and strategy execution teams as well as serving as chief financial officer for the life business and led operational finance for Zurich Global Life North America.
Kathy is a member of the American Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Whitman Advisory Council for the Martin J Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.
President and Chief Operating Officer
Katherine Cody
Carey Smith serves as Orchid’s chief information officer and oversees the company’s information and computer technologies. He has more than 25 years of experience as a strategist and digital disruptor, holding positions at BlueCross BlueShield Minnesota and Ameriprise Financial. Prior to Orchid, he served as chief information technology officer at Constellation. Carey has been nationally recognized among the 10 Best CTOs of 2020 by Industry Era, as well as regionally by Twin Cities as a CIO of the Year ORBIE Award Finalist in 2020.
Chief Information Officer
Carey Smith
SPECIAL REPORT
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For the second year running, Shielded Insurance Brokers has claimed the number-one spot among IB’s Top Brokerages. In 2020, it was record-setting growth that drove the company’s impressive success. This year, says managing director Stuart Brady, the key ingredient behind the win is the Shielded culture. Brady is proud of the shared vision for constant improvement across all aspects of the business. “We are thrilled to take out the win again, and it’s hats off to the team for their hard work over the past year,” he says.
“Having capacity in a [catastrophe-prone market] has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners”
Kathy Cody, Orchid Insurance
“While we enjoy growing, we really focus on improving our underwriting expertise to be sure we’re delivering greater than expected returns on capital for our carrier partners”
Ross Bowie, Orchid Insurance
Read on
Award Winner
ORCHID INSURANCE
Michael Garamoni
Chief Financial Officer
Katherine Cody
President and Chief Operating Officer
Steve Carlsen
Chief Executive Officer
Leadership
Headquarters:
Vero Beach, FL, USA
Year founded:
1998
Number of employees:
161
Phone:
772 226 5546
Email:
jschramm@orchidinsurance.com
Website:
orchidinsurance.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company
/orchid-insurance
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
Steve Carlsen was appointed CEO following his tenure as a board member since 2014 and chairman of the board from 2017 to 2019. He has a lifetime of insurance experience, having served as the chief underwriter, vice president, COO, director, and president of various underwriting and consulting companies. He began his 40-year career in the reinsurance industry at Swiss Re and NAC Re.
In 2001, Steve co-founded Endurance Specialty, where he served as chief underwriter and COO. He remained a director of Endurance until the company’s sale in 2017. He became a director at Orchid in 2014 when it first transitioned to private equity ownership and remains chair of the company’s underwriting committee.
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Carlsen
After three decades in the insurance industry, Kathy Cody joined Orchid Insurance as chief operating officer in August 2019 and was promoted to president in January 2021. She previously served as chief operating officer, personal lines, for Farmers Insurance Group. During her 10 years at Farmers, Kathy led personal lines underwriting, finance, analytics, operations, and strategy execution teams as well as serving as chief financial officer for the life business and led operational finance for Zurich Global Life North America.
Kathy is a member of the American Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Whitman Advisory Council for the Martin J Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.
President and Chief Operating Officer
Katherine Cody
Carey Smith serves as Orchid’s chief information officer and oversees the company’s information and computer technologies. He has more than 25 years of experience as a strategist and digital disruptor, holding positions at BlueCross BlueShield Minnesota and Ameriprise Financial. Prior to Orchid, he served as chief information technology officer at Constellation. Carey has been nationally recognized among the 10 Best CTOs of 2020 by Industry Era, as well as regionally by Twin Cities as a CIO of the Year ORBIE Award Finalist in 2020.
Chief Information Officer
Carey Smith
For the second year running, Shielded Insurance Brokers has claimed the number-one spot among IB’s Top Brokerages. In 2020, it was record-setting growth that drove the company’s impressive success. This year, says managing director Stuart Brady, the key ingredient behind the win is the Shielded culture. Brady is proud of the shared vision for constant improvement across all aspects of the business. “We are thrilled to take out the win again, and it’s hats off to the team for their hard work over the past year,” he says.
Carey Smith
Chief Information Officer
Carey Smith serves as Orchid’s chief information officer and oversees the company’s information and computer technologies. He has more than 25 years of experience as a strategist and digital disruptor, holding positions at BlueCross BlueShield Minnesota and Ameriprise Financial. Prior to Orchid, he served as chief information technology officer at Constellation. Carey has been nationally recognized among the 10 Best CTOs of 2020 by Industry Era, as well as regionally by Twin Cities as a CIO of the Year ORBIE Award Finalist in 2020.
Chief Information Officer
Carey Smith
Ross Bowie
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ross Bowie was promoted to chief underwriting officer in September 2021 after serving as head of personal lines since June 2020. His career has spanned the management of product, marketing, underwriting, and sales teams. Prior to joining Orchid, Ross served as senior vice president at Bankers Insurance Group, where he oversaw both personal and commercial lines as well as the development of new products in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ross Bowie
Ross Bowie
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ross Bowie was promoted to chief underwriting officer in September 2021 after serving as head of personal lines since June 2020. His career has spanned the management of product, marketing, underwriting, and sales teams. Prior to joining Orchid, Ross served as senior vice president at Bankers Insurance Group, where he oversaw both personal and commercial lines as well as the development of new products in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ross Bowie
Michael Garamoni
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Garamoni joined Orchid Insurance in 2020 after serving as vice president of global finance at Ryan Specialty Group, where he also held roles as vice president of corporate finance, assistant controller, director of finance, and manager of accounting. Michael also served at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior assurance associate. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from
Miami University.
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Garamoni
Michael Garamoni
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Garamoni joined Orchid Insurance in 2020 after serving as vice president of global finance at Ryan Specialty Group, where he also held roles as vice president of corporate finance, assistant controller, director of finance, and manager of accounting. Michael also served at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior assurance associate. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Miami University.
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Garamoni
Carey Smith
Chief Information Officer
Michael Garamoni joined Orchid Insurance in 2020 after serving as vice president of global finance at Ryan Specialty Group, where he also held roles as vice president of corporate finance, assistant controller, director of finance, and manager of accounting. Michael also served at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior assurance associate. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Miami University.
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Garamoni
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/orchid-insurance
Website:
orchidinsurance.com
Email:
jschramm@orchidinsurance.com
Phone:
772 226 5546
Number of employees:
161
Year founded:
1998
Headquarters:
Vero Beach, FL, USA
“We recently launched our Merlin rating platform that allows us to price risks at a 1 sq km grid – making sure we do not become overexposed in any areas. We can also be [precise] about where and at what price we deploy our capacity. We strongly believe our innovative underwriting techniques along with our amazing team allows us to continue to outperform our competitors.”
Established in 1998, Orchid Insurance has blossomed to become a leading program administrator underwriting over $300m of premium in 2022 through its various divisions. Headquartered in Vero Beach, FL with additional offices in Tampa and Houston, the company designs, markets, underwrites and administers insurance policies on behalf of third-party carriers through an independent network of more than 7,100 experienced agents and brokers.
Since its inception, Orchid has experienced steady growth by representing best-in-class insurance and reinsurance partners, and through successful partnerships with qualified independent retail brokers and select wholesale brokers. Orchid utilizes its homegrown pricing software that allows for better allocation of capital costs and has provided significant underwriting returns to carrier partners through best-in-class segmentation even as the frequency of natural catastrophes has increased.
Recent years haven’t always been easy, with land-falling hurricanes causing billions in losses to carriers across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
“Since 2017, we really haven’t had a quiet year,” says Kathy Cody, president and COO at Orchid Insurance. “Quite a few significant carriers have stopped writing wind coverage in catastrophe-prone states, causing MGAs to non-renew portfolios or close completely. Through the recent years, Orchid’s underwriting results have shone through. There isn’t another MGA in our space that can say they added new capacity in core wind states like Florida, the Gulf, and the Southeast like we did in 2021. Having capacity in a market like this has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners.”
Today, Orchid is positioned for future growth through a focused approach in the continued development of proprietary insurance products and programs. A committed team of seasoned executives, the utilization of advanced analytics, and a data-centric approach sets Orchid apart in the marketplace. The company is committed to investing, developing, and solidifying its position as the leading platform in property and casualty insurance products in the US.
“We recently launched our Merlin rating platform that allows us to price risks at a 1 sq km grid – making sure we do not become overexposed in any areas. We can also be [precise] about where and at what price we deploy our capacity. We strongly believe our innovative underwriting techniques along with our amazing team allows us to continue to outperform our competitors.”
Established in 1998, Orchid Insurance has blossomed to become a leading program administrator underwriting over $300m of premium in 2022 through its various divisions. Headquartered in Vero Beach, FL with additional offices in Tampa and Houston, the company designs, markets, underwrites and administers insurance policies on behalf of third-party carriers through an independent network of more than 7,100 experienced agents and brokers.
Since its inception, Orchid has experienced steady growth by representing best-in-class insurance and reinsurance partners, and through successful partnerships with qualified independent retail brokers and select wholesale brokers. Orchid utilizes its homegrown pricing software that allows for better allocation of capital costs and has provided significant underwriting returns to carrier partners through best-in-class segmentation even as the frequency of natural catastrophes has increased.
Recent years haven’t always been easy, with land-falling hurricanes causing billions in losses to carriers across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
“Since 2017, we really haven’t had a quiet year,” says Kathy Cody, president and COO at Orchid Insurance. “Quite a few significant carriers have stopped writing wind coverage in catastrophe-prone states, causing MGAs to non-renew portfolios or close completely. Through the recent years, Orchid’s underwriting results have shone through. There isn’t another MGA in our space that can say they added new capacity in core wind states like Florida, the Gulf, and the Southeast like we did in 2021. Having capacity in a market like this has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners.”
Today, Orchid is positioned for future growth through a focused approach in the continued development of proprietary insurance products and programs. A committed team of seasoned executives, the utilization of advanced analytics, and a data-centric approach sets Orchid apart in the marketplace. The company is committed to investing, developing, and solidifying its position as the leading platform in property and casualty insurance products in the US.
Established in 1998, Orchid Insurance has blossomed to become a leading program administrator underwriting over $300m of premium in 2022 through its various divisions. Headquartered in Vero Beach, FL with additional offices in Tampa and Houston, the company designs, markets, underwrites and administers insurance policies on behalf of third-party carriers through an independent network of more than 7,100 experienced agents and brokers.
Since its inception, Orchid has experienced steady growth by representing best-in-class insurance and reinsurance partners, and through successful partnerships with qualified independent retail brokers and select wholesale brokers. Orchid utilizes its homegrown pricing software that allows for better allocation of capital costs and has provided significant underwriting returns to carrier partners through best-in-class segmentation even as the frequency of natural catastrophes has increased.
Recent years haven’t always been easy, with land-falling hurricanes causing billions in losses to carriers across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
“Since 2017, we really haven’t had a quiet year,” says Kathy Cody, president and COO at Orchid Insurance. “Quite a few significant carriers have stopped writing wind coverage in catastrophe-prone states, causing MGAs to non-renew portfolios or close completely. Through the recent years, Orchid’s underwriting results have shone through. There isn’t another MGA in our space that can say they added new capacity in core wind states like Florida, the Gulf, and the Southeast like we did in 2021. Having capacity in a market like this has provided comfort to our agents – knowing Orchid is always the first choice when it comes to coastal homeowners.”
Today, Orchid is positioned for future growth through a focused approach in the continued development of proprietary insurance products and programs. A committed team of seasoned executives, the utilization of advanced analytics, and a data-centric approach sets Orchid apart in the marketplace. The company is committed to investing, developing, and solidifying its position as the leading platform in property and casualty insurance products in the US.