Nirvana appoints leader to build out European MGA underwriting team
Media, tech and cyber MGA Nirvana has appointed Thomas M. Mannsdorfer as part of its leadership team to build out a European underwriting business. He will lead a pan-European team of underwriters to develop a warranty and indemnity (W&I) portfolio focused on small-to-medium-sized deals on the continent.
Mannsdorfer will also take responsibility for the European business, an important growth area for Nirvana. The team will be based in Barcelona, and it will focus on local products in local languages as well as English, and will be built upon strong relationships with regional and global brokers, said Nirvana.
Mannsdorfer has more than 20 years’ experience as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) underwriter across European markets. Prior to joining Nirvana, Mannsdorfer, a qualified lawyer, headed up European specialty underwriting at Sompo International. He also led Sompo’s Barcelona branch and underwriting hub. He previously served as director of M&A insurance and chief underwriting officer (international) with ANV in Barcelona.
“Thomas is one of the most experienced M&A underwriters in Europe, and we are delighted that he has joined the founding team at Nirvana,” said founding director Kabir Chanrai. “We have ambitious plans to grow our European team, and Thomas’s successful track record of building out teams will play an important role in helping us to achieve this.”
Nirvana Risk Partners was formed by Rob Jones in 2017 as a division of the Castel Underwriting Agencies MGA formation platform. In March 2023, he and Kabir Chanrai purchased Nirvana from Castel in a management buyout and launched the platform.
“Nirvana’s ‘underwriting first’ mindset was a major attraction for me, and I am thrilled to be joining Rob and Kabir to help them grow the European W&I business,” said Mannsdorfer. “With Rob’s deep underwriting experience and Kabir’s financial expertise, Nirvana is well positioned to grow a profitable book of business providing protection for entrepreneurs involved in European M&A deals.”
