Specialist insurer ERS today announces that Syndicate 1856 has commenced writing new lines of business to support its vision to build the Syndicate into a more diverse, multi-line (re)insurer.
Following a significant recruitment drive which has seen the Syndicate assemble specialist talent from across the market, providing the capability to write specialty lines of business requiring deep technical knowledge, the insurer has now gained necessary approvals to write expanded lines globally, including D&F Property, Marine and Energy Liability, Political Risk, Terror and War, Cargo and Specie, Professional Lines and Specialty Reinsurance (including Aviation and Marine).
The product expansion follows a successful capital raise led by Abry Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm and an Aquiline-led investor group.
ERS Group CEO, Peter Bilsby commented: “This is an exciting period for Syndicate 1856. The current environment has created a hardening market with reduced capacity in many classes. As a new market entrant with an expanded product range and capacity, this provides us with significant opportunities to scale profitably.”
To create differentiation and deliver against Lloyd’s Blueprint Two, ERS will blend external partnerships and internal data science talent to build a market-leading insurtech platform. The combination will allow the Syndicate to deliver straight-through processing, advanced automated risk selection and machine learning algorithms, which will provide end-to-end efficiencies throughout the entire digital trading lifecycle.
Bilsby added: “Our industry is evolving and Syndicates have to digitalise to take advantage of future innovation. Syndicate 1856 is no different which is why we are transitioning into an agile, insurtech business, led by a team of recognised talent that uses data and intelligent automation to enhance underwriting decisions. This will provide us with a new way to manage our clients’ most complex risks.”
“However, an important, and often-missed, part of any digitalisation journey is the transition period required to achieve the vision. We recognise that today, not all interactions and risks can be digitalised end-to-end. We are positioned to trade in the most efficient way for our brokers and will look to leverage our digital investments in-step with brokers as the industry digitalises.”
“We are in an excellent position. We have a clean balance sheet, a long-term strategy to deliver sustained profitable growth and the capital to deliver it.”
