Arthur J Gallagher’s new Pen Underwriting agency has been launched in Australia.

The US-based global broker is uniting its UK and Australian underwriting agency brands under the new name, which was launched in Australia on Saturday.

In Australia this means a collective identity for Australis Underwriting and Lloyd’s agency SRS, which Gallagher acquired in November 2012.

SRS founder and Pen CEO Paul Lynam says an exciting period of growth lies ahead.

“We will be part of the global underwriting arm of Pen, which will count for about $700 million of gross written premium, allowing us to work together to grow this business,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We are looking at product launches and we are looking at acquisitions.”

Richard Hardy, former NSW state manager for Ace, will manage Pen’s short-tail classes, while Alex Tarantino has joined from QBE Canada to manage long-tail business.

John Cowell, former technical product director at OIM Underwriting in London, is Technical Underwriter.

Pen is one of the largest underwriting agencies in Australia, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.