ICAT Syndicate 4242 & Neon Partner to Underwrite Large U.S. Property
ICAT Syndicate 4242 at Lloyd’s, a U.S. catastrophe-exposed property underwriter, and Neon, a specialist Lloyd’s underwriter, have partnered in a reciprocal capacity arrangement to bring additional per risk capacity to the Bermuda property direct & facultative (D&F) market.
This strategic partnership leverages the highly specialized and disciplined underwriting talent of both insurers and allows both underwriters to share a portion of one another’s portfolios.
This arrangement now allows Neon to offer up to $40 million per account on properties underwritten from the Bermuda office and ICAT Syndicate 4242 now delegates authority to Neon to underwrite larger property schedules.
“Neon’s Bermuda office, which is led by Chris Fisher and is an approved coverholder for Neon Syndicate 2468, opened in mid-2016 and provides access to both the local and U.S. markets as Neon expands its international footprint,” Neon said in a statement.
Neon Bermuda currently focuses on writing direct and facultative property insurance on a global basis and has intentions to launch new product lines as the office expands, it continued.
For ICAT Syndicate 4242, this transaction represents the first step in diversifying its portfolio towards short-tail business underwritten outside of ICAT, the company said, noting that the syndicate is on track to write $172 million GWP in 2016 with an average combined ratio of 78.3 percent since inception.
This partnership builds on an existing relationship between the businesses in which Neon delegates authority to ICAT to underwrite middle market commercial business in the United States as part of a panel of insurers who provide ICAT up to $150 million per risk capacity.
“The partnership with ICAT Syndicate 4242, which provides us with up to $40 million in per-risk catastrophe capacity, will play a key role in supporting our plans to expand our international presence,” said Chris Fisher, chief executive of Neon Bermuda and head of Direct and Facultative Property.
“We are delighted to be the first partner ICAT has selected to underwrite on its behalf and this partnership is truly reflective of the alignment in our approach to high quality underwriting,” added Fisher.
Megan McConnell, active underwriter of ICAT Syndicate 4242, commented: “Once our sights were set on identifying underwriting opportunities outside of the CAT-exposed small commercial property space, we quickly realized that Neon offered an opportunity to partner with an organization and underwriter we highly respect.”
Source: ICAT Syndicate 4242 and Neon