Mumbai:
Finalising its much awaited plans to set up a Syndicate at Lloyd’s of London, GIC Re has initially partnered with Ironshore’s Pembroke Managing Agency (Pembroke) to establish and manage the proposed Syndicate.
The Lloyd’s Franchise Board has granted “In principle” approval of GIC Re’s application to create a new Syndicate at Lloyd’s and the final approval is expected in couple of months.GIC Re has also plans to have its own Managing Agency in course of time to serve its own full fledged Syndicate. Currently, GIC Re operates in Lloyd's as a Corporate Member and provides third party capital to some of the Lloyd's Syndicates to do business.
The new Syndicate will enable GIC Re to broaden and diversify the group’s international portfolio. The partnership with Lloyd’s will bring together a unique combination of Indian and international talent leveraging the proven strengths of GIC Re in emerging markets with those of Lloyd’s in the developed markets.
Pembroke, a Liberty Mutual company, is a specialist provider of Lloyd's managing agency services to third parties and has a proven track record of guiding new entrants through the Lloyd’s approval process.
The combination of Pembroke’s specialty lines underwriting capability and GIC Re’s regional expertise will create mutually beneficial development opportunities for GIC Re, Pembroke and other participants in the Lloyd’s market.
Alice Vaidyan, Chairman and Managing Director of GIC Re said “The Syndicate formation marks an inflexion point in our corporate history through provision of global business access in collaboration with a globally respected brand and will help us broaden diversification and leverage deployment of capital resources. Due to the significant growth of the Indian (re)insurance market, our portfolio has become more India-centric over the past few years. The Lloyd’s platform will help us access quality international business and provide us with enhanced balance and diversity.”
Chris Brown, Strategic Partnership Director at Pembroke Managing Agency, said “GIC Re will be the first Syndicate of its kind backed solely by aligned capital from an Indian reinsurance group. We are excited by this opportunity to develop business for the Lloyd’s market by harnessing Lloyd’s expertise with the unique distribution advantage offered by working with a powerful local partner.”
GIC Re earlier had plans to acquire a Syndicate but now has gone ahead to set up its own entity.GIC Re is ranked 12th amongst the top 40 global reinsurers, as published by Standard & Poor’s in September 2017.
GIC Re was a wholly-owned company of the Government of India until it issued its first tranche of IPO shares in October 2017. GIC Re has an established footprint in the Afro Asian region, where it has been operating for over 45 years.
Lloyd’s is the pre-eminent (re) insurance market in the world with access to specialty risks that complement GIC Re’s existing lines of business.