Names make a return to Lloyd’s

by Gill Montia

Story link: Names make a return to Lloyd’s

Hampden Agencies Ltd (HAL), an adviser to Lloyd’s of London, has reported that an already emerging trend for Lloyd’s insurers to raise capital from private investors, also known as “Names”, is expected to increase.

In recent years fundraising has focused on the debt and equity markets but with these markets frozen by the credit crisis, insurers are seeking alternative sources.

Earlier this week, HAL chief executive, Neil Smith, told The Financial Times that while private capital is not about to replace institutional funds at Lloyd’s, it has an increasingly important role to play.

Mr Smith sees private capital as a responsive and flexible form of capital which can fill gaps in the market if conditions are right.

Last month, specialist insurance and reinsurance underwriting group, Amlin, raised £50 million of capacity for Syndicate 6106, a new syndicate with a focus on the US and international catastrophe reinsurance markets.

Private capital provided £47.5 million of the backing, of which HAL, which is the largest adviser to private capital at Lloyd’s, provided £27 million.

The role of Lloyd’s Names diminished during the 1990s when thousands were faced with liabilities arising from asbestos claims.