View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2020/10/16/586735.htm
DUAL, the London-based managing general agency, announced it will deploy its own group underwriting capital alongside its existing capacity providers.
“This is a game-changing moment for DUAL. Now, by providing capital to DUAL, we move to the next stage of our underwriting journey at an exciting time for the group when we have also welcomed a new investor,” said David Howden, CEO of Hyperion Insurance Group, the parent company of DUAL. “I am thrilled that with this announcement DUAL takes the lead in defining what the underwriting business of the future looks like.”
Hyperion announced in September it had received a $1.5 billion investment from private equity investor, Hg.
In response to press reports that DUAL might start a Lloyd’s syndicate, DUAL responded by saying: “We are considering all the options in terms of deploying DUAL’s own capital to underwrite our own risks alongside that of our existing capacity partners.”
Alan Telford will join DUAL as chief underwriting officer, effective from Nov. 1. Telford, who joins DUAL from Liberty Specialty Markets, will report to Richard Clapham, DUAL’s CEO. The addition of Telford brings further bench strength to the DUAL leadership team and the appointment will allow Richard Clapham, who currently holds both roles, to focus on DUAL’s strategic priorities as the business enters its next phase of development.
“Over the last four years we have made significant investments in our actuarial and analytical capabilities, as well as our service infrastructure and technology, to build out an agile and scaleable underwriting platform with efficiency and performance center stage,” said Clapham. “This has been critical on our path to continually dialing up the provision of innovative and expert underwriting and dialling down the frictional costs of insurance.”
DUAL, the specialist underwriting arm of Hyperion Insurance Group, is the world’s largest international underwriting agency and Lloyd’s largest international coverholder.
DUAL’s growth and operational development is driven by a mission to be the MGA of choice to clients and carriers, predicated on disciplined underwriting and innovative distribution. DUAL is responsible for gross written premiums of £850 million and employs almost 700 people in offices across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.