Lion Underwriting has expanded its board and made senior appointments as it targets a “new phase of growth”.

Jarrod O’Brien and Nathan Hepple have become non-executive directors, forming a three-member board with founder and director Kurt Nilsen, who started the underwriting agency in 2015.

Mr O’Brien has more than 25 years’ industry experience. In 2022, he sold his retail insurance brokerage, Ausure Macarthur, to Abico Insurance Brokers. Mr Hepple is a lawyer focused on claims and litigation.

Adam Thackeray, who joined the business in 2021 as a senior property underwriter, has been promoted to head of property, and Bec Gottstein, previously ShieldCover underwriting manager, has become head of casualty.

Mr Nilsen says the agency has built a successful operation supporting licensed general insurance brokers in national cluster groups, smaller associations, authorised representative and others.

The past decade has been about laying the right foundations, giving the agency a “strong” following, including among its broking partners, he says.

“We are now gearing up to expand and enter a new phase of growth. With that growth, I firmly believe that diversity of thought and perspectives are going to be key to getting our new products just right.”

He says the new directors “are individuals I met many years ago through the industry ... they understand the mechanics of what it takes to run a business and, most importantly to me, they are very forward-thinking, which is critical as Lion enters this next chapter”.

Mr Nilsen says the agency is looking to expand its range of products, with property a focus.

“And we also foresee quite an expansion in terms of what we can offer when it comes to professional lines.”

Lion has focused on hard-to-place risks such as professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ cover, and cyber. It also writes “vanilla-type” risks across all classes.