International General Insurance Holdings Company (IGI) has revealed a 16% year-on-year increase in gross written premiums to US$74 million for the third quarter of 2019.
In a statement, the international insurer said that rates across its various specialty classes of business are moving in the right direction, while it continues to improve market discipline. Premium rates on renewal business have risen by around 10.6% across the IGI portfolio, with the most significant increases in the London marketplace in specialty and casualty lines including directors & officers, professional indemnity, financial institutions and aviation.
The insurer is looking forward to completing its Nasdaq public market listing in the first quarter of 2020 with Tiberius. This will add approximately US$120 million of equity to IGI’s balance sheet, which will allow the deployment of more capital to take advantage of these attractive worldwide market conditions, the statement said.
According to IGI, its primary focus disciplined underwriting and careful business selection with an emphasis on in-depth risk assessment of the underlying exposure. Following two major nat cat events in the Atlantic and Pacific, namely Hurricane Dorian and Typhoon Faxai, the company has reserved approximately US$2 million on a gross and net basis for company-wide catastrophe claims in the third quarter.
“The global insurance market is in a better position than we have seen for a long time. The broader insurance landscape has seen better market conditions and significantly improved rates across various lines of business.” said Wasef Jabsheh, founder, vice chairman, and CEO of IGI. “We have laid the foundation for long-term sustainable and profitable growth and now there is a good opportunity to deploy additional capital profitably.”
