Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) has received “in-principle” approval from the Lloyd’s Council to launch a Lloyd’s syndicate in 2024, in partnership with Apollo Syndicate Management.
The approval is contingent on ASR completing the necessary financial and operational preparations required for new entrants to Lloyd's market, leading to final approval and permission to underwrite.
ASR Syndicate 2454, set to commence underwriting in March 2024, will concentrate on business across Africa, which currently accounts for approximately 2% of Lloyd’s global business. This move is expected to create significant opportunities in specialty risk insurance both for ASR and the wider Lloyd’s market.
The new syndicate will underwrite ASR’s existing lines of business, including political risk and trade credit, political violence and terrorism, parametric, energy, property, construction, liability, and treaty, with plans to introduce new lines in 2024. Apollo, known for its third-party managing agency services and managing Syndicates 1969 and 1971, will support this venture.
ASR, a leading quoting market for African business, aims to leverage its local distribution network to augment the existing London market business. Additionally, ASR plans to use Lloyd’s global brand and licenses to address the gap in corporate and specialty capacity for clients across Africa.
Since its inception in February 2021, ASR has been focused on increasing insurance penetration in Africa, aiming to stimulate investment on the continent. It has been instrumental in de-risking $16.9 billion worth of projects and assets across 49 African countries.
“We are thrilled to be launching a syndicate at Lloyd’s. In three years, we have already become one of the established (re)insurers across Africa, and we are looking forward to bringing some of this business to Lloyd’s. Utilising the globally recognised Lloyd’s name will enable us to improve insurance penetration across Africa, which in part will be possible by expanding ASR’s on the ground footprint in Africa to territories where Lloyd’s has existing licenses. We look forward to working with Apollo and Lloyd’s as we bring this new, African focused capacity to the London market,” ASR CEO Mikir Shah said.
Elsewhere in the market, Lloyd’s has announced that it is now accepting applications for its 2024 graduate programmes.
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