Press Releases
Catlin to Underwrite Short-Term Life Business Through New Life Syndicate and From Guernsey
22 April 2009
HAMILTON, Bermuda – Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’; London Stock Exchange), the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, announces that the Group will commence writing selected classes of short-term life insurance and reinsurance, effective 1 May 2009.
The life business to be written by Catlin complements the Group’s book of accident & health business. The business written will include niche short-term life insurance and reinsurance products; investment-linked business will not be written. The life business will diversify the Group’s underwriting portfolio and is largely uncorrelated to the other risks underwritten by the Group.
The coverage will be underwritten by two new Catlin entities:
- Catlin has received authorisation from Lloyd’s to establish a life insurance syndicate, Syndicate 3002. The syndicate, which is wholly capitalised by a Catlin Group subsidiary, will write a worldwide portfolio of short-term life insurance and reinsurance coverages placed in the London market.
- Catlin has also established a Guernsey-domiciled branch of Catlin Insurance Company Ltd. of Bermuda (Catlin Bermuda). This branch will write short-term life reinsurance for clients in international markets that would not normally access the London market. The branch will initially focus on the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
The active underwriter of the Syndicate 3002 is Nigel Guillaume-Smith, who is Catlin’s Business Group Leader for accident & health business. The Syndicate 3002 portfolio will be underwritten by Simon Hearn, who joined Catlin earlier in 2009. Simon Hearn most recently worked as a Client Manager within Swiss Re's UK Life and Health business. He previously held client management and underwriting roles at GE Insurance Solutions, which was acquired in 2006 by Swiss Re. Prior to commencing his reinsurance career, Simon headed the medical underwriting team at AIG Life. Simon’s underwriting career started in 1989 with Black Horse Financial Services.
The Guernsey Branch’s life portfolio will be underwritten by Ian Rickard, who also joined Catlin earlier in 2009. Ian Rickard most recently was Assistant Director - Life at the Arab Insurance Group in Bahrain. He previously held underwriting roles at Scottish Re in the UK, whose life reinsurance portfolio was acquired in 2007 by Arab Insurance Group. He has previously held senior underwriting and managerial positions in the UK and internationally in Singapore, Oman, and Dubai.
Catlin’s existing accident and health operations, underwritten by the Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd’s and Catlin US, produced gross premiums written of more than US$130 million in 2008. The types of accident and health business underwritten by Catlin include: general personal accident, occupational accident, workers compensation excess of loss, aviation personal accident and loss of licence, sports-related coverages, keyman and confidential life.
Stephen Catlin, Chief Executive of Catlin Group Limited, said:
“I am pleased to announce that Catlin will begin to underwrite various classes of short-term life insurance and reinsurance, both through a new Lloyd’s syndicate and through a Guernsey Branch of Catlin Bermuda.
“Our new life operations are a natural extension of our leadership position in the accident & health insurance market further diversifying our underwriting portfolio. Our new life operations will be underwritten by two of our underwriting platforms, giving clients options that are most suitable to their needs.”
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For more information contact:
| Media Relations: | ||
| James Burcke, Head of Communications, London |
Tel: Mobile : E-mail: |
+44 (0)20 7458 5710 +44 (0)7958 767 738 james.burcke@catlin.com |
| Liz Morley, Maitland |
Tel: |
+44 (0)20 7379 5151 emorley@maitland.co.uk |
| Investor Relations: | ||
| William Spurgin, Head of Investor Relations, London |
Tel: |
+44 (0)20 7458 5726 +44 (0)7710 314 365 william.spurgin@catlin.com |
Notes to editors
| 1. | Catlin Group Limited, headquartered in Bermuda , is an international specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classes of business worldwide through four underwriting platforms and an international network of offices. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL). Gross premiums written during 2007 exceeded US$3.3 billion. More information about Catlin can be found at www.catlin.com. | |
| 2. |
Catlin's four underwriting platforms are:
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| 3. |
Catlin's international network of offices allows the Group to diversify further its risk portfolio and to work more closely with local policyholders and brokers. Besides its offices in the UK, US and Bermuda, Catlin operates offices in Canada, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Guernsey, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Austria. | |
| 4. | Catlin Group Limited is the title sponsor of the Catlin Arctic Survey, a major scientific expedition to measure the thickness and density of the permanent ice surrounding the North Pole. The project’s aim is to determine, with a much greater degree of accuracy, when this ice could disappear as a result of global warming. The Survey, during which three Arctic explorers will trek on foot approximately 1,000 kilometres to the North Pole, began on 28 February 2009. More information is available at www.catlinarcticsurvey.com. |