NU Online News Service, Feb. 19, 3:40 p.m.EST

The economic downturn is a time of opportunity forinsurance-related enterprises with the right strategy, according toPat Ryan, the former chief executive of Aon Corp.

Mr. Ryan is doing more than talking the talk. He has two newventures underway himself--Ryan Specialty Group and Ryan Specialty(Europe) Ltd.--that involve wholesale, MGA and brokerage servicebusinesses.

Starting a wholesale business in the middle of a soft market,when demand suffers, might appear to be an unwise move, but Mr.Ryan believes otherwise, saying that the time is ripe for thebusiness model he has brought to the marketplace.

"When there are problems, there are opportunities--and there area lot of problems out there," he said. "There is a somewhatdysfunctional environment, with tremendous pressure onprofitability. One would say, well, that's a bad time to do it, butI take the opposite [view] and say it's a great time to do it.

"I like businesses where you can differentiate yourself and theones that we have in our vision, strategy, really allow for thatdifferentiation--which are managing general underwriters, MGAs andwholesale," he added.

He admits there are financial pressures in the current businessenvironment, but said, "there are also outstandingopportunities."

"I never look at [the market] as hard or soft in terms ofappetite to be in business," Mr. Ryan continued. He explained thatif one waited for a hard market to start a new business, they wouldprobably miss the opportunity since it is usually short in durationcompared to the extended years a soft market typically lasts.

Now, he said, is a great time to bring fresh capital to thetable "and make a difference to the client."

Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) is aimed at providing specialtyservices to insurance brokers, agents and carriers, the companysaid. Its strategy is to develop MGUs, managing general agents,wholesale brokers, and a service platform for agents and brokers,he explained.

RSG will not include retail brokerage, reinsurance brokerage orhuman resource consulting.

RSG's first subsidiary, ThinkRisk of Kansas City, Mo., beganbusiness in December, to provide underwriting and claims managementservices for media, technology, advertising and network security.The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Leib Dodell. Mr. Ryanserves as chairman.

Its second subsidiary, Ryan Specialty (Europe) Ltd., launchedearlier this month, is a United Kingdom-based MGU agencyspecializing in financial lines products including directors andofficers, financial institution and professional liabilityproducts. The agency will be led by Malcolm Nightingale and AdamBarker.

Mr. Ryan said RSG is not related to Aon, where he retired aschairman in 2008, but he hopes it and the other major brokers,Marsh and Willis, will become clients.

RSG's aim, he said, is to provide services to the full range ofagents and brokers from the mega-brokers, to regional and localbrokers and agents, dealing with businesses from large tomiddle-market through smaller markets.

What will differentiate RSG from others in this segment is theattraction of "some unusually talented people who want to be a partof building and also create real added-value toward our clients,"he observed.

It will also offer answers to those agents and brokers who needassistance and strategies in the technology and back-officeprocesses that the large national and regional brokers haveovercome through the economy of scale, he said.

As far as account size, while MGUs will target large tomid-market clients, RSG has the Web-based technology advantage todo a lot of smaller clients economically, Mr. Ryan noted.

Additional information about RSG is available at www.ryansg.com and ThinkRisk atwww.ThinkRiskIns.com.