Executive Bio
Frederik W. H. (Rick) van Oppen II, CPCU
Managing Principal – VAN OPPEN & CO. 2, Inc.
Rick has more than 25 years of experience in the Property & Casualty insurance industry and has specialized as a broker of insurance programs for environmental service firms and other construction and engineering related businesses for over 20 years.
Starting out as an underwriter for a small regional insurer, Rick entered the insurance industry in 1984. He continued to work for regional brokers in the Los Angeles area until 1992 when he founded Van Oppen & Co. Insurance Services whose clients were mainly environmental firms. By 2001 the company had 8 employees and a client base of over 250 businesses.
In January 2002 Van Oppen & Co. was sold to Frenkel & Co., a national broker based in New York with over 200 employees. Rick joined Frenkel & Co.’s Los Angeles office as Vice President and leader of the newly formed Environmental Risk Services – Construction & Professional Services Group. From 2002 to 2006, Rick oversaw the production and service staff of the division as it grew.
In February 2006 Rick joined the environmental practice of IMA Financial Group, a large, privately held, regional insurer with its primary office in Denver. At IMA Rick maintained his specialization in insurance programs for environmental service firms. In May 2007, IMA changed the focus of its environmental department to support only regional accounts, and in 2008 Rick left IMA with an agreement allowing him to retain the clients he had worked with there. Many of these were long standing customers who had been with Rick for many years.
Rick formed Van Oppen & Co. 2 in June 2008 (incorporated in 2012) with the intention of slow and controlled company growth focused on the needs of Environmental Service clients.
Rick holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA and is a Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter.
