Ep290 Jacqui Ferrier CEO Carbon Underwriting: Sorting Wheat from Chaff

Feb 24, 2026

Jacqui Ferrier, CEO and co-founder of Carbon Underwriting who transformed a Lloyd’s start-up into a scaled carrier, talks data-driven underwriting and growth. She explains building Graphene, rapid data ingestion, and how transparency with MGAs and capital partners shapes portfolio decisions. Conversations cover MGA selection, consortia strategies, and plans for US expansion and scaling.

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INSIGHT

Graphene Turned Bordereaux Into Near‑Live Insight

Carbon built Graphene to ingest, cleanse and standardize large volumes of MGA bordereaux automatically, turning messy submissions into near-live underwriting insight.
They scaled from ~250 to 2,500 monthly bordereaux, now processing ~30,000 bordereaux and ~5.5bn premium through the system.

ADVICE

Share Near‑Live Data To Build Trust And Act Early

Share data and near‑live insights with coverholders and capital to build trust and enable proactive portfolio management.
Carbon uses monthly meetings plus shared Graphene views so problems are tackled early, not at renewal panic points.

INSIGHT

Boring SME Commercials Reduce Portfolio Volatility

Carbon targets SME commercial lines to reduce volatility and diversify by product and geography rather than chasing high‑volatility big risks.
Their portfolio spans ~8 core LOBs across ~10 core countries with an even split UK, Europe, Canada, Australia.

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Today’s podcast is all about catching up with a business that was last on the show five years ago.
And we’ve got an awful lot of catching up to do. Back then Carbon Underwriting was on the show because it was one of the first crop of Syndicates in a Box at Lloyd’s, laying out interesting ideas on how to modernise and optimise the underwriting of delegated authority business.
Now it has matured into a carrier with GWP in the hundreds of millions that has built its own proprietary core systems and developed a broad and diverse capital ecosystem to support its underwriting.
The last five years have also been transformative for the delegated underwriting sector, with explosive growth combining with strong results.
That’s why this interview with Carbon CEO Jacqui Ferrier is so interesting.
As the market turns and a potential reckoning may lie in wait for the unwary or unprepared, Jacqui is a rare domain expert with her feet firmly on the ground and her eyes fixed on detailed underwriting data.
The secrets of outperformance in delegated underwriting are all discussed here in the open for anyone who cares to listen. Fast ingestion of data, swift analysis and feedback, as well as absolute transparency with all stakeholders are key features
Jacqui can afford to be so open and candid about what constitutes Carbon’s edge, in part I think because what she and her team have managed to build is the sort of thing that is easy to talk about in theory but extremely hard to execute in practice.
Jacqui is great company and there is a huge amount of underwriting experience and expertise packed into the next 45 minutes. What’s more, the possible future strategic directions for Carbon as it continues to scale are a revelation.
NOTES & LINKS
API stands for Application Programming Interface
Here is a link to the first Episode I did with Carbon, almost six years ago:
https://www.thevoiceofinsurance.com/podcast/episode/3878ea54/ep-42-coverholders-in-a-box-stephen-card-of-carbon-underwriting
We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:
https://www.advantagego.com