Fidelis Insurance Group

It is understood the marine reinsurance programme renewed largely flat.

Several Lloyd’s syndicates are also now providing cover for the federal insurer.

Plus, the latest people moves and all the top news of the week.

After outsized losses, the (re)insurer still sees opportunity in a softening market.

The reinsurance loss ratio improved by over 20 points with no notable cat losses for the quarter.

This will be Fidelis’ first office in North America and will be led by former Navigators Re head Ivan Vega.

The new recruit will report to group CUO Ian Houston.

Plus, the latest people moves and all the top news of the week.

Besides Russia-Ukraine losses, the Air India crash losses totaled $26mn.

Net adverse development for the quarter increased 30% year on year to $89.2mn.

How is The Fidelis Partnership choosing to launch into new insurance classes as it rapidly expands?

The event was co-hosted by The Fidelis Partnership and IDA Ireland.

The carrier said it is disappointed with the English High Court’s decision.

She will continue to work with the executive team on key projects and initiatives.

The company has settled, or is in the settlement stage, for 80% of the exposure.

The Bermudian's first quarter cat losses totalled $333.3mn, compared to $103mn a year ago.

Erik Manning is joining the business from BMS as head of ceded reinsurance.

The MGA will be Pine Walk’s 13th start-up.

Jonny Strickle became the group chief actuarial officer for the carrier in 2023.

The firm projects losses from the fires at between $160mn-$190mn.

The group's reinsurance book was also hit with cat losses during the quarter.

In tandem, it pegged its net cat loss estimate from California wildfires at $160mn-$190mn.

After one good year, giving back margin now will be “inexcusable”, the executive said.

The partnership is Fidelis Insurance Group’s first third-party capacity deal.

Cat losses increased 14.6% to $91.6mn, driven by Hurricane Helene and Storm Boris.

The marine underwriter said the business had grown through taking “very big positions” on programmes.

The IG’s $3.1bn reinsurance tower is facing double-digit pricing increases in the wake of the Baltimore bridge disaster.

The announcement comes a week after the launch of international property MGA Seraphina.

Kelly Sanders has returned to the Fidelis group to lead the unit.

The executive spent 18 years in various finance roles at Arch.

Negligence must be proved to cover any loss of life for passengers under P&I cover.

The carrier also reported more difficulty than anticipated in realizing the value of collateral following the defaults.

The losses were driven by events in property D&F, particularly tornadoes.

It will be led by Valeria Del Villano, who was head of international renewables at AIG.

The firm has hired from Probitas, Tamesis Dual and Aegis for the cells.

Syndicate 3123’s opening is “the largest-ever launch of a Names-sponsored syndicate in Lloyd’s”.

The shares are being sold by select shareholders in the group.

Along with D&F, Fidelis is looking to grow in marine construction and aviation.

The company’s results come less than two months after announcing its Lloyd’s syndicate.

Lloyd’s gains leadership, and The Fidelis Partnership gets capital diversification.

The syndicate will be Asta managed and have capacity from Hampden Names.

The exit comes after Fidelis restructured into two separate firms.

The MGU is exploring additional third-party capital relationships.

The underwriter was overseeing MGA Kersey Specialty’s pivot to renewables.

The firm’s growth focus for 2024 will be in property D&F.

The (re)insurer’s Q4 CoR rose 15.2 points to 81.4% on satellite failure, D&F losses.

Losses were driven by the Viasat-3 satellite failure, the Sudan conflict and D&F events.

The upgrade noted consistent underwriting gains and investment returns, and a CoR below peers.

SEC filings show that Travelers’ equity ownership was valued at over $107mn in Q4.

The senior energy underwriter exited amid a strategic pivot at the MGA.

The Fidelis underwriting unit’s Paul Calnan and Danny Joyce are set to depart.

John Symms had been at the firm since 2020 and previously worked at Talbot.

The executive’s career includes stints at Acappella and Amlin.

The executive will retain his role as European CUO alongside the new position.

Ratings could be lowered by one notch depending on regulatory restrictions on cash flow from Bermuda operating entities to non-operating holding companies, the ratings agency said.

The group's third-quarter underwriting income was $74.8mn, compared with an underwriting loss of $89.4mn in Q3 2022.

The MGA will be Fidelis MGU subsidiary Pine Walk’s eighth launch.

Tomais Gaughan has been promoted to lead the energy offering at SiriusPoint International.

The executive said that (re)insurers would need to produce stable and consistent returns before a capital influx.

Underwriting income more than doubled to $77.5mn from $32mn as the company grew its top line largely through its specialty segment, reduced reinsurance exposure and lowered catastrophe and large losses.

The carrier will aim to reduce its emissions by up to 49% by 2030.

Fidelis Insurance Group CEO Dan Burrows and Fidelis MGU counterpart Richard Brindle speak with Insurance Insider after the IPO.

The proceeds will be used by the Bermudian to take advantage of rate hardening in key markets.

The reaction to capital raising this year signals that investor belief in risk-takers is reinvigorated.

Fidelis shares closed down from the $14 per share price set for the IPO, or a 0.8x multiple of its $17.19 book value per share at end of Q1 2023.

The carrier stands to raise $210mn from the offering.

The increase takes the carrier’s total reserves for the conflict to $145.6mn.

The carrier has set its IPO price at between $16 and $19 per common share, and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FIHL.

The carrier also recorded a large one-off benefit from the separation of its balance sheet and MGU segments.

The carrier cited a “huge” spread of possible outcomes from various lawsuits relating to aviation claims from the conflict.

The insurer plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Irish subsidiary boosted its top-line growth by 58% during the year as it took advantage of market dislocation.

Alignment mechanisms include MGU’s 9.9% stake in balance sheet, personal MGU management stake and a significant profit commission.

The senior exits come a matter of months after the business was created in a landmark transaction.

The carrier set out a string of defences in the $3.5bn suit.

The number of common shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

Ben Fortune joined Fidelis in 2015 as an underwriter, later becoming head of international reinsurance in 2020.

The MGU’s insurance head Richard Coulson said the firm’s ability to offer equity was helping to attract talent.

The income figure makes the MGA amongst the largest marine underwriters in London in its first full year of underwriting.

The insurance group is being advised by JP Morgan and Barclays Capital.

The ratings agency also affirmed the financial strength rating of A and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a” for Fidelis and its subsidiaries.

The carrier argued that, because the sum it was being sued for was significant – $95mn in the all-risk case and $240mn in the war risk case – it should be allowed to represent itself.

According to sources, Daniel O’Connell will join Fidelis MGU as head of bespoke.

Plus our take on the BMS/Eurazeo deal and all the top news of the week.

Fidelis MGU will hold a 9.9% stake in the roughly $2bn balance sheet to create alignment, while Richard Brindle and management retain meaningful stakes in both businesses.

Matthew Bellamy becomes director of underwriting, while Michael Davern joins the executive committee.

Fidelis chairman Richard Brindle said a shift towards named cat perils and away from complex structures is underway, but that carriers need more unity between inwards and outwards teams to navigate the harder market.  

Mark Noble’s appointment comes two months after he left Liberty Specialty Markets alongside aviation war underwriting manager Mike Hart.

The correlation between a good ESG score and low loss ratio is strongest in property insurance, the report shows.

Authorities in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and Bermuda have rubberstamped the ambitious restructure.

Moves to push down London broker commissions highlights the options open to write reinsurance platforms in other markets.

The carrier pushed London brokers for a reduction in the traditional 15% commission.

Staff movement remains high in the class of business, which has seen a turnaround in performance.

The carrier has put in place further curbs on metallurgical coal, tar sand extraction and fracking.

How much capacity is available to meet rising cat reinsurance demands was a key theme throughout this year’s Rendez-Vous.

Ratings agencies suggest that carriers must do better on controlling volatility – but diverging risk appetites give the lie to the idea that the industry is walking away from risk.