Kevin, who will lead FSC’s investments in the insurance sector, joins from Stephens Europe, where he was a Managing Director of the Financial Services Group. He has over two decades of investment banking experience, advising public and private insurance companies on mergers, acquisitions, strategy, restructurings and fundraisings, and has broad experience across the financial services sector. Kevin was also one of the founders of Fenchurch Advisory, helping to create and build the leading specialist financial services boutique largely focused on the asset management and insurance sectors.

 
Kevin Cunningham commented:

“The European insurance industry comprises some 3,200 insurance companies with gross written premiums amounting to €1.3 trillion. The insurance distribution model is highly fragmented, with the number and type of intermediary varying widely by geography. FSC is ideally positioned to capitalise on the trend for consolidation, for larger insurers to divest non-core operations and smaller and mid-market insurers in need of transformation.”

 
FSC launched in 2020 to capitalise on a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity, transforming businesses through a hands-on, operationally focused and technology-enabled value creation strategy. FSC invests in mid-market businesses in Europe with equity values of between €50-200 million, targeting opportunities in the insurance, banking, asset & wealth management, specialty finance and payments sectors.

  
The firm seeks to support financial services businesses that have the opportunity for transformation, implementing modern technology architecture, adapting business models to changing customer demands, enhancing profitability through operating efficiencies combined with underwriting discipline and seeking synergistic consolidation opportunities of attractively priced assets. Following its second Nymbus funding announcement last month, and prior investment in Barion, a European payment business, FSC has displayed its resilience and platform capabilities throughout its first year, notwithstanding the global pandemic. Additionally, another investment in the specialty finance arena, which buttresses a consolidation opportunity in Continental Europe, is set to be announced shortly.

 
Matt Hansen, Managing Partner at FSC, commented:

“We are excited to welcome Kevin to our expanding team, heading up our investment activity in the insurance space. We believe there is a highly compelling investment opportunity in the European financial services sector, and we are uniquely positioned to capitalise on this market environment as a specialist financial services investor, transforming businesses through our hands-on, operational and technology-enabled value-creation strategy, combined to generate a unique, asymmetric risk / return profile for our investors.”

 
Since the launch of FSC, Co-Founders and Managing Partners Matt Hansen and Miroslav Boublik have recognised that to become the leading European financial services investment specialist, they would first have to build a robust platform of industry experts. Kevin’s appointment grows the team to 24 highly experienced investors, operators and senior advisors with more than 220 years of combined financial services operational expertise.

 
Prior to joining Stephens in 2017, Kevin was a Founding Partner of Fenchurch Advisory Partners, where he spent 13 years. He started his advisory career in Europe as a member of the European Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank. Kevin has an MBA from Columbia University, a BA in Anthropology from UCLA and earned the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in 2001.