Helix Underwriting Partners, a Bermuda-based independent managing general agent (MGA), has launched a new professional lines programme, expanding its product offering.
The new platform, backed by Somers Re, offers a maximum line limit of $10 million and will provide coverage across several professional liability products. These include directors’ and officers’ liability, errors and omissions, employment practices liability, wage and hour, transactional liability and cyber coverage.
Matt Irvine has been appointed as chief underwriting officer – professional lines to lead the programme. Irvine brings over 30 years of underwriting experience in both London and Bermuda, having previously spent 13 years at AXA XL, where he was responsible for leading the company’s Bermuda-based professional lines business.
This addition to Helix’s offering complements the firm’s existing property insurance and excess casualty programmes, aimed at the middle-market sector.
Nigel Mortimer, managing partner at Helix, stated that the launch of the professional lines programme represents a strategic move to complete the company’s core product pillars, adding that the new offering would enable Helix to provide a broader range of services to clients and brokers.
Mortimer also highlighted Irvine’s extensive industry experience and relationships across Bermuda, the US, and London, which he believes will be an asset to the development of the new programme.
Irvine expressed enthusiasm about joining Helix and contributing to the company’s growth.
Helix was founded in 2020 by industry executives Claude Lefebvre, Nik Lucking and Neville Weston. The company has grown since Mortimer and Tim Hadler joined as managing partners in 2021. The firm’s portfolio currently includes a property and facultative book, managed by Lucking, and an excess casualty programme, led by Hadler.
In December 2024, Helix launched a US platform focused on property business and has indicated plans to enter the London market.
The UK professional indemnity insurance (PII) market was valued at about £3.3 billion, with a growth rate of 3.1% in 2023. This growth was largely attributed to increased turnover among traditional professions despite a stabilising or declining trend in premium rates, according to MarketResearch.com.
Looking ahead, the UK PII market is expected to experience slower growth, with forecasts indicating a stabilisation of the market by 2028. The market’s trajectory will be influenced by ongoing economic conditions, regulatory developments and the evolving needs of professional seeking indemnity coverage, MarketResearch.com said.
