Hippo-owned Spinnaker Insurance Company appointed a former USAA executive as its new president and CEO.

Torben Ostergaard is signing onto Spinnaker after more than a decade in various c-suite positions at USAA. He’ll replace Dave Ingrey, who will transition to chief operating officer.

At USAA, Ostergaard most recently served as executive vice president, chief risk officer and a member of the executive council that manages the day-to-day operations of the company, including property & casualty insurance, banking and life insurance.

Ostergaard joins Spinnaker less than a year after Hippo – an InsurTech and managing general agent focused on home insurance – completed its acquisition of the company. Spinnaker is a New Jersey based national property casualty insurer licensed to operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and it had been Hippo’s largest carrier platform partner since 2017. Ostergaard said that Hippo and Spinnaker’s evolving relationship was something that impressed him.

“After more than a decade of working with Fortune 100 companies in this industry, I was blown away by the combination of innovation and technology that Hippo deployed alongside Spinnaker during their partnership, and how it accelerated once Hippo acquired Spinnaker,” Ostergaard told Carrier Management via email. “The focus isn’t on disruption, it’s about innovation. We’re focused on how we can use technology to bring enhanced products and client experiences to our industry, which is ultimately creating a best-in-class customer and partner experience.”

Ostergaard said he wants to grow the company in a variety of ways, noting Spinnaker has already accomplished plenty to date, having “pioneered value-added fronting insurance with products that benefit the product, insurer, reinsurer and the end customer.”

He wants to build on work Ingrey accomplished, but also expand the company’s partnership business, as well as its platform – with strategic insurance products and services “that support program administrators, MGAs and InsurTechs across even more business categories.

‘We’re fully invested in supporting our partners and will continue to consider taking a portion of the risk for specific partners to deepen our support and help them drive their success,” Ostergaard said.

Spinnaker in an InsurTech World

Of course, Spinnaker parent Hippo is now shaping its future. Ostergaard said that this dynamic carries plenty of benefits and new business opportunities.

“In addition to our continued support of program administrators and MGAs, with Hippo’s technical prowess, and Spinnaker’s A- rated platform and long-standing partnerships, we’ll create a launching pad for new InsurTechs coming to market,” Ostergaard said. “We are creating the perfect fit for companies that need a simple-to-use automated experience that allows them to increase their speed to market and reach their full potential.”

He added that “just like Hippo, Spinnaker believes in always being there for our partners and our customers and we’ll use this mindset to amplify our vision even further.”

Spinnaker recently announced several new partnerships and will continue expanding its support for industry-leading insurance managing general agents (MGAs) across multiple categories, the company said.

Ostergaard is a 25-year insurance and financial services industry veteran. Before USAA, he was chief credit officer at HSBC Financial in Canada. He is currently serving on Opendoor’s risk advisory board.

Richard McCathron, President of Hippo Enterprises and Spinnaker’s chairman, said Ostergaard’s long experience will be key “to lead Spinnaker to its next chapter of growth.”

Source: Spinnaker Insurance Company