Neon Leads New London Political Risks Consortium, Offering $100M Limit Per Policy

Specialist Lloyd’s insurer Neon announced it will lead a newly established London Political Risks Insurance Consortium, with MS Amlin becoming a joint agreement party.

Spearheaded by Neon’s recently promoted head of Specialty, Nicholas Robinson, the consortium has been created in response to increased levels of political uncertainty across the globe that have triggered demand for political risks insurance coverage at scale.

The consortium aims to provide insurance coverage to corporate investors and financial institutions for assets which can be located anywhere in the world, including emerging markets.

The new consortium has a US$100 million limit per policy and is made up of 100 percent Lloyd’s capacity. It will allow syndicates to compete more easily for bigger risks demanding larger capacity at more attractive rates, with brokers able to access leading underwriting expertise in a single meeting.

“It shows the real strength of the Lloyd’s market to be able to tackle large and complex risks, addressing a growing market need through an innovative collaboration which leverages the specialist expertise of Neon and MS Amlin,” said Neon in a statement.

With a maximum policy period of seven years, it provides coverage which offers clients longer-term peace of mind than is typically available, for risks including:

• confiscation
• expropriation
• nationalization
• deprivation
• political violence & war

“Political risks insurance has long been a strength for Lloyd’s and Neon’s team has more than half a century of combined experience in this specialist field,” commented ­Nicholas Robinson, Neon’s head of Specialty.

“This includes the expertise to consider confiscation of business for assets owned through shareholding,” he added. “The consortium can also support the growing group of financial institutions looking to lend into emerging markets and which therefore require country risk coverage.”

He said the consortium provides the necessary scale of coverage for both London-based and global clients “at a time where there is growing demand for the product, following various loss events in South America, Eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia.”

Headquartered in Gracechurch Street in London, Neon is a member of Great American Insurance Group, which is a subsidiary of American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, with more than US$60 billion in assets.

Source: Neon