Article img

Insurer in Full: Hiscox and Meacock buck pre-emption trend by keeping stamp flat for 2024

Published by:
Topics: MGAs Strategy Topical Trends

Hiscox has again bucked the Lloyd’s pre-emption trend with the carrier targeting no expansion to Syndicate 33’s stamp capacity for 2024...

The move will mark the third consecutive year that Syndicate 33’s stamp has remained at £1.7bn. It last moved substantially for the 2020 underwriting year, when it expanded from £1.4bn to £1.68bn.

Hiscox 33, one of the larger syndicates at Lloyd’s, retained its top-quartile status in 2022, reporting a combined ratio of 77 percent.

   

The Insurer understands Meacock Syndicate 727 is also planning to remain flat at £110.5mn capacity in the first full underwriting year under new active underwriter Alec Taylor.

Formerly deputy active underwriter, Taylor assumed overall responsibility for underwriting following the death of long-serving active underwriter Michael “Father of the House” Meacock in February 2023.

Asta-managed Beat Syndicate 4242 is also defying the trend of planned stamp increases for 2024, with the third-party capital syndicate set to remain flat at £260mn.

Last year, Syndicate 4242 was approved to grow its stamp capacity by 15.6 percent to £260mn from its 2021 capacity of £225mn.

The move by some syndicates to remain flat for 2024 is understood to in part reflect the strengthening of sterling, which has dampened down some of the need for syndicates to increase capacity.

However, the majority of pre-emption requests to date have been for substantial increases as syndicates seek to take advantage of ongoing hard market conditions.

Hampden Risk Partners Syndicate 2689 is targeting a 44.2 percent pre-emption for 2024, the largest increase to emerge to date.

This would take the Asta-managed syndicate’s stamp capacity to £75mn for 2024, compared with £53mn this year.

Syndicate 2689 was initially established for the 2017 year of account as Verto, but rebranded to Hampden Risk Partners last October in a move first revealed by this publication.

Among other third party-managed syndicates, Asta-managed medical start-up Syndicate 1902 is targeting an 18 percent stamp increase from £52.7mn this year to £62.2mn in 2024.

Launched by Medical & Commercial International (MCI), the syndicate-in-a-box commenced underwriting from 1 January 2022 under Philip Trafford and a former QBE underwriting team.

MCI had previously underwritten on behalf of several Lloyd’s syndicates since its launch in 2014, initially operating on the Castel platform before a management buy-out in 2020.

   

Managing Agency Partners (MAP) SPA 6103 is understood to be targeting a 26 percent increase to £96mn from £76mn in 2023. Last week, The Insurer revealed that the flagship MAP Syndicate 2791 is proposing a 36.8 percent increase for 2024 to take its stamp capacity to £650mn.

Analysis by this publication late last week noted that several syndicates are set for a further growth push, with several of the preliminary pre-emption requests to emerge to date targeting double-digit increases.

These include Cincinnati Global Syndicate 318 and Dale Syndicate 1729, both currently targeting 25 percent stamp capacity increases, as well as Beazley Syndicate 623 which is looking to grow 18.6 percent despite plans to transfer some business out of that syndicate onto its US platforms.

Stamp capacity is a metric unique to Lloyd’s which measures the maximum amount of premium income, net of acquisition costs, a syndicate can write in an underwriting year.

 

For continued access to market leading content click here to enquire about a subscription to The Insurer - your company may already have a corporate subscription in place...

See more
See less
Share fluctuations
Ryan Specialty
45.1
USD
-1.7%
Arch Capital
82.6
USD
-1.3%
Allianz
248.9
USD
-1.2%
Marsh & McLennan
197.4
USD
-1%
Brown & Brown
74.1
USD
-0.8%
Aon
326.8
USD
-0.5%
WTW
245.4
USD
-0.4%
Gallagher
248.0
USD
-0.4%
Generali
19.0
EUR
-0.3%
SCOR
28.8
EUR
-0.3%
Chubb
228.7
USD
-0.3%
Swiss Re
118.1
USD
+0%
See more
See less
Upcoming events