AmRisc names Nickoles as Waypoint Wholesale CEO

AmRisc Group, the largest catastrophe-focused MGA in the US, has appointed Molly Nickoles as CEO of its wholesale brand Waypoint Wholesale.

Birmingham, Alabama-based Nickoles previously served as the chief underwriting officer for the builders risk product. She started her career as a senior underwriter with AmRisc in 2003.

Brian Reid-led AmRisc said Nickoles appointment is part of a strategy to position the company and executive leadership team for continued growth as it approaches $2bn in gross written premium.

Other recently announced leadership changes will also support this growth strategy.

Billy Hammond will succeed Nickoles as chief underwriting officer of builders risk for AmRisc, while Marcus Kelley will lead as division president of the now-combined Waypoint Technical Risks and National Specialty.

Hammond was previously product development manager and SVP at AmRisc, while Kelley was formerly division president, SVP technical risks at Waypoint Wholesale.

In addition, in preparation for the upcoming retirement of Scott Hornsby, Thomas Bonnarigo will step into the role of AmRisc’s chief underwriting officer of national accounts in 2022. Bonnarigo was previously division president, national specialty at Waypoint Wholesale.

Laura Beckmann, president and chief operating officer of AmRisc, said Nickoles has been “instrumental in growing our builders risk product, and I have no doubt she will add a tremendous amount of value in her new role as Waypoint CEO”.

AmRisc Wholesale was rebranded to Waypoint Wholesale in September last year. At that point the MGA said the Waypoint Wholesale production division would remain under the same leadership and structure, reporting to Beckmann.

This publication revealed yesterday that Truist Insurance Holdings-owned AmRisc is among several of the larger cat-focused US property MGAs seeking new capacity for 2022 as a number of carriers retrench from the market.

AmRisc is the giant of the cat-focused MGU space, and three quarters of its premium is written on an E&S basis.

Despite 2021 losses, sources said its combined ratio for the year on a gross basis is likely to come in within the 95-105 percent range, although the experience of carriers that support its programs will depend on their own reinsurance purchasing strategies and costs.