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Chad Vance

Partner, Corporate Department - Insurance M&A at Paul Hastings LLP

Chicago, IL, United States

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Why they matter

A go-to insurance M&A dealmaker who just closed an MGA carve-out sale (SiriusPoint/ArmadaCare) and has repeat reps on multibillion-dollar reinsurance and life/annuity transactions.

Background

Chad Vance is a Partner in the Corporate Department at Paul Hastings LLP, based in Chicago, where he co-leads the firm's Insurance M&A practice. He joined Paul Hastings from Sidley Austin in October 2023 as part of a three-partner team hired to build out the firm's insurance and reinsurance transactional practice. Vance holds a J.D. from Cornell Law School (cum laude) and a B.A. from the University of Michigan, and focuses on corporate, securities, and regulatory matters for insurers, reinsurers, and financial sponsors.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Advised SiriusPoint on its $250 million agreement to sell ArmadaCorp Capital (parent of MGA ArmadaCare) to Ambac Financial Group
  • 2023
    Advised Global Atlantic on its $19.2 billion reinsurance transaction with MetLife covering annuity and life insurance blocks
  • 2019
    Represented Cigna in the $6.3 billion sale of its group life and disability insurance business to New York Life
  • 2023
    Joined Paul Hastings with Kirk Lipsey and Sanjiv Tata from Sidley Austin/Mayer Brown to launch the firm's premier insurance M&A practice

Call-prep brief

Chad Vance, Partner, Insurance M&A, Paul Hastings (Chicago)

Background

  • Cornell Law (JD, cum laude, 2007); Michigan (BA, 2002)
  • Spent most of his career at Sidley Austin before joining Paul Hastings in Oct 2023 as part of a three-partner lateral team (with Kirk Lipsey and Sanjiv Tata) hired to build out insurance M&A

Current focus

  • Buy-side and sell-side M&A, reinsurance, and financing deals for insurers, reinsurers, and PE sponsors active in the insurance/annuity space
  • Just closed (Sept 2025) SiriusPoint's $250M sale of MGA ArmadaCare to Ambac, directly relevant to MGA-focused deal theses

What he cares about

  • Deal execution speed and regulatory approval strategy (many of his deals require state insurance department sign-off)
  • Building Paul Hastings' insurance practice into a top-tier group, repeat business and platform credibility matter to him

Recent moves

  • Lateral move to Paul Hastings (2023) signals he's actively growing a book of business and may be receptive to new sponsor relationships
  • Track record spans reinsurance (Global Atlantic/MetLife, $19.2B), life/annuity divestitures (Cigna/New York Life, $6.3B), and MGA transactions (ArmadaCare)

Sensitivities

  • Client conflicts: he may already represent competing bidders or incumbents in the MGA/brokerage space, screen before sharing deal specifics
  • As outside counsel, he cannot speak for clients' strategic intentions; frame outreach around market color, not confidential deal info

Questions to ask

  1. What's driving current MGA carve-out and consolidation activity from a regulatory/capital perspective?
  2. Which sponsors or strategics is he seeing most active in insurance distribution/MGA deals right now?
  3. What are typical friction points (regulatory, reinsurance capacity, rep & warranty) in MGA acquisitions today?

Outreach draft

Subject
Insurance M&A perspective on MGA consolidation
Hi Chad, I came across your work advising SiriusPoint on the ArmadaCare sale to Ambac, and more broadly your reinsurance and life/annuity deal history at Global Atlantic and Cigna. We're a private equity team evaluating opportunities in insurance brokerage and MGA consolidation, and would value your perspective on current deal dynamics, regulatory approval timelines, reinsurance capacity, and where you're seeing the most sponsor activity. Would you have 20 minutes for a call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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