Lloyd's

The exit comes ahead of Lloyd’s closure of SPA 6129.

Property treaty underwriter Nicholas James will be joining the Credit Suisse-backed syndicate in April next year.

The Lloyd’s business planning process is drawing to a close after a difficult year for London syndicates.

The former XL Catlin chief operating officer is taking on an advisory role at the start-up which is developing a trading platform for (re)insurance risk.

The 2019 business plan for ILS-backed Arcus Syndicate 1856 includes an increase in capacity for property insurance.

More than a dozen Lloyd’s syndicates have pulled back from property direct and facultative (D&F) business either in full or by significantly cutting portfolios, sister publication The Insurance Insider has reported.

Continuing cat losses and dislocation at Lloyd’s should support reinsurance renewal rates, the reinsurer suggested.

The buyer expects to pay about £102mn ($134.7mn) in cash for Beaufort Underwriting Agency and its Syndicate 318.

But the reinsurer will likely retain its independence, experts say.

A change of ownership is envisaged comfortably before year-end, it is understood.

RenaissanceRe kept its stake in the $1bn reinsurance programme stable at $262.5mn while Swiss Re increased its line by $10mn this year to $185mn.

More than two-thirds of Lloyd’s managing agents saw the potential to make use of the UK’s ILS framework in the coming year.