August 18, 2021 | CHICAGO, IL – Ryan Specialty Group, LLC (Ryan Specialty) is pleased to announce Kirk Behrens has joined the company as Chief Operating & Technology Officer of Ryan Specialty Benefits. Kirk will work closely with John Zern, President and CEO of Ryan Specialty Benefits, in leading the development of this specialty, which focuses on wholesale benefits brokerage and managing general underwriting capabilities to serve the needs of the retail brokerage community.

Kirk has extensive operations and technology experience within insurance brokerage. Prior to joining Ryan Specialty, Kirk held senior leadership positions at Aon including Chief Information Officer, Aon plc. and Chief Operating Officer, Global Health Solutions. He also previously held leadership roles at Marsh and was a management consultant at Accenture. For over 25 years, Kirk has worked with insurance leaders to design and build health and risk solution to address some of the biggest challenges facing employers.

Patrick G. Ryan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ryan Specialty, commented, “Ryan Specialty Benefits is a new vertical for us and is very important strategically. With John Zern at the head of our benefits offering, we are able to attract the outstanding talent of insurance veteran Kirk Behrens. Kirk, working alongside John Zern, provides our clients with a wide and diverse path of experience in the insurance industry.”

John Zern remarked, “Kirk brings a unique mix of strategy, commercial, operations and technology expertise and experience as well as a proven track record that will be instrumental in building Ryan Specialty Benefits. I am very much looking forward to working with Kirk to set the foundation of Ryan Specialty Benefits.”

Commenting on his new position, Kirk Behrens enthused, “I am thrilled to be joining Ryan Specialty Benefits to build an industry-leading employee benefits wholesale specialty solution provider. This is a unique opportunity that I am privileged to have and excited to develop with Pat, John and the top talent at Ryan Specialty.”

Kirk can be contacted at kirk.behrens@ryansg.com or 312-763-9845.

About Ryan Specialty Group

Founded by Patrick G. Ryan in 2010, Ryan Specialty Group is a rapidly growing service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents and carriers. Ryan Specialty Group provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter. Our mission is to provide industry-leading innovative specialty insurance solutions for insurance brokers, agents and carriers. ryansg.com