French Reinsurer SCOR Group to Back New Lloyd’s Syndicate

France’s SCOR Group announced that the Lloyd’s Market Franchise Board has given its “in principle” approval to the creation of Syndicate 2015. The “final arrangements and approval” could mean that the new syndicate could commence underwriting as early as the first of January on a “risk inception basis.”

SCOR will be Syndicate 2015’s sole capital provider. The initial stamp capacity is £75 million [$122 million]. The bulletin explained that the “envisaged portfolio has a strong focus on shorter tail lines coming from markets outside the US and excludes reinsurance treaty business. This will be the first time that the Group is the exclusive capital provider to a Lloyd’s Market syndicate.”

Whittington Capital Management Ltd, part of Whittington Group, will be the managing agent of Syndicate 2015. The management team of the new syndicate includes Richard Harris, John Byrne and Tom Corfield (Active Underwriter).

SCOR said its “support of Syndicate 2015 reflects the company’s intention to further develop an insurance platform. It is an additional initiative to the Group’s ongoing strong support of a number of other syndicates as a reinsurer and/or capital provider.”

SCOR Global P&C CEO Victor Peignet commented: “We are very pleased to support this new syndicate 2015 on the Lloyd’s Market managed by Whittington Capital Management Ltd. It constitutes a complementary route for SCOR by which to optimize the Group’s access to business that is not currently being underwritten.

“Lloyd’s has certainly proven to be a very efficient platform from which to underwrite business, benefiting from its reputation and global reach. This initiative was mentioned as being under consideration when we launched our new strategic plan “Strong Momentum” in September. It is fully consistent with our targets and other planned developments over the next few years.”

Source: SCOR Group

Topics Excess Surplus Reinsurance Lloyd's