Coherent names long-time industry executive Todd Buchanan to lead the firm’s continued global growth as it establishes new U.S. operations
TAMPA, FLORIDA – February 8, 2021 – Coherent, a growing global provider of digital platforms to insurers, announced today that long-time industry executive Todd Buchanan will join the start-up to lead its new U.S. operations.
As Coherent’s U.S. CEO, Buchanan brings 24 years of insurance industry experience to help the start-up successfully introduce its cutting-edge product development, sales enablement, customer acquisition and engagement and policy management solutions in the region. Throughout 2021, Buchanan will help oversee the hiring of 30-50 individuals and establish the firm’s presence in strategic locations across the U.S. He will report directly to Coherent’s Global CEO John Brisco.
“Todd will bring both an extremely valuable understanding of the insurance and investment management market complemented by distribution expertise to this new role as our firm enters the U.S. for the first time. As we work to grow our footprint globally, and help leading firms bring better insurance, retirement and investment products to market faster, we will rely on his track record of excellent leadership and management to establish our presence across this important region.”
John Brisco, CEO & Co-founder, Coherent
Brisco and his team of insurance industry experts founded Coherent, now backed by Cathay Innovation and Franklin Templeton, and built a team of product designers, technologists and actuaries to address the problems insurers face using legacy systems.
The firm helps its clients accelerate growth with technology that speeds up innovation – to develop products swiftly, sell with ease, acquire and engage customers with precision, and automate back office processes – to harness the vast distribution scale held by major players in the space.
“I’ve noticed technology become increasingly critical to ensure every customer has access to the best products and services to protect their families and futures. Throughout my career, I’ve seen our industry use antiquated systems that have been in place for 40 years or more – and every bit of additional code that goes in makes it more complicated and unwieldy to use. It takes longer and longer for insurers to create and launch products at the same time there is demand for products to go to market faster and faster.”
Todd Buchanan, CEO, USA, Coherent
Prior to joining Coherent, Buchanan served as Senior Regional Vice President in AIG’s Life and Retirement Division, where he was responsible for a team of 500 employees. Todd also held the position of Senior Vice President, Market Management and Strategy, for Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, known as VALIC, a large life insurance subsidiary within AIG. During his time at AIG, he earned the “Manager of the Year” honor nine times.
Prior to entering the insurance industry, Todd served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He is an active member of his communities, serving on the boards for the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the Outback Bowl, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation and the Positive Coaching Alliance.
