By Rebecca Delaney

July 14 - (The Insurer) - Nexus Underwriting, part of the Brown & Brown group, has launched an internal investigation following a "wholly inappropriate and offensive" email that was sent to staff by its chief executive.

Nexus CEO Stuart Rouse circulated an email to internal staff on June 30 to mark a colleague's retirement after 46 years.

The email included a reference to the retiring colleague's ability to "include the words 'hairy' and 'growler' into a conversation, quite often leaving the room to howl", alluding to a sexual innuendo.

A statement by Nexus to The Insurer said: "We are aware of an internal email that has been shared externally and contains language and references that are wholly inappropriate and offensive. We acknowledge the seriousness of this matter and unreservedly apologise for the offence caused."

The statement continued: "The content of the message does not reflect the values of Nexus Underwriting or its stakeholders. We are treating this with urgency and have launched an internal investigation to understand how this occurred.

"We are committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive environment for all our colleagues, and we deeply regret that this standard has not been met in this instance."

Rouse assumed the role of CEO of Nexus, the specialist MGA platform of London-headquartered intermediary Kentro Capital, in July last year following the departure of Kentro co-founder Colin Thompson, as first reported by The Insurer.

Kentro was sold to U.S. retail and wholesale broker Brown & Brown in May 2023, as revealed by this publication at the time. The deal closed in October that year when specialist UK insurance investor BP Marsh completed the 51.5 million pound sale of its minority stake in Kentro to Brown & Brown.

Prior to assuming the CEO role, Rouse spent nine years as group chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Nexus. Other previous roles include group COO at H.W. Wood and Lloyd's finance director at Aspen.

Brown & Brown and Rouse did not respond to requests for comment.