Alcor Group, a property insurance underwriter supported by Beat Capital Partners – a subsidiary of Ambac Financial Group – has opened a new office in Atlanta as part of its plan to expand its footprint in the US market.
The operation will be led by Sophie DeCouto (pictured above), who takes on the role of CEO of Alcor USA. She brings deep experience in the excess and surplus (E&S) market. She also has a long-standing E&S specialist with extensive underwriting and leadership experience.
DeCouto has more than two decades of underwriting leadership experience across multiple property lines. Prior to joining Alcor, she served as vice president at Paragon Specialty Property. Her previous roles included positions at Ironshore, IFG Companies, Axis, and Allied World.
Alcor also announced that Joshua Graham has assumed the role of head of Alcor Group, while co-founder Chris Fisher has moved into an advisory capacity.
Graham said the US expansion aims to strengthen relationships with wholesale brokers and clients in the region while maintaining service to stakeholders in London and Bermuda.
“Opening our office in Atlanta enables us to get closer to our clients and embed deeper relationships with our panel of key wholesale brokers,” Graham said.
Alcor was founded by Graham and Fisher in 2020 with backing from Beat Capital Partners, a London-based underwriting platform. Beat was acquired in June 2024 by Ambac Financial Group through a deal valued at $282 million, giving Ambac a 60% controlling stake, while the remaining ownership was retained by Beat’s management and Bain Capital Credit.
As part of this repositioning, Ambac is also working to finalize the $420 million sale of its legacy financial guarantee subsidiaries – Ambac Assurance Corp. and Ambac UK – to Oaktree Capital Management, with the transaction deadline extended to Dec. 31, 2025.
Beat Capital’s portfolio has grown significantly since the acquisition. In the second quarter of 2024, Beat reported gross written premiums of $113.1 million, more than double the $54.7 million recorded during the same period in the prior year.
The Beat platform currently supports 16 managing general agencies and maintains an annualized premium run rate of approximately $1.4 billion.
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