Hyperion has created a new technology-focused business, Hyperion X, which will specialise in the development of key areas of data, analytics and digital platform delivery.

Hyperion X, which is set to launch on 1 January 2019, will become the group’s fourth operating arm and will sit alongside its existing broking businesses Howden Broking Group and RKH Specialty (RKH), and its managing general agency(MGA), Dual.

Hyperion X will also manage Hyperion’s third-party InsurTech investments, as well as incubating its own start-up ventures.

Barnaby Rugge-Price will lead the new initiative as CEO, while Elliot Richardson will become chairman of Hyperion X.

Hyperion CEO David Howden said that the creation of the new business was a demonstration of the group’s commitment to innovation.

“As a group, we have always embraced change. For us to continue as independent leaders in the markets in which we operate, investment in technology and data is critical,” he said.

“By combining our expertise in international insurance markets with improved business insights from data, we aim to enhance the products and services that we offer to our clients, to reduce the unacceptably high cost of doing business and to open up new markets,” he added.

Rugge-Price commented: “There has been growing pressure on the cost of delivery across our industry which represents a great threat to us all but, at the same time, a great opportunity for those who can grasp it. 

“I hope that Elliot’s and my experience across the market spectrum will combine with our growing inhouse analytics and technology capabilities to deliver a series of products and market platforms that address the needs of clients and markets. I believe the evolution of our industry’s proposition is the most important challenge we face, so when David asked me to lead Hyperion X, I eagerly accepted it as an opportunity to devote my time and energy to a critically important project.”

From 1 January, Andy Bragoli will take over as CEO and Rugge-Price as chairman of RKH, with Richardson continuing to lead RKH’s reinsurance business.

Bragoli currently serves as deputy CEO of RKH and has led RKH’s property and casualty (P&C) business since its acquisition by Hyperion in 2015. He has been with the group since 1997.