Lloyd’s review vital for APAC

The Lloyd’s profitability review had to happen, and against that backdrop has helped its Asia platforms keep competitive within the Asia-Pacific region, Veronica Grigg, chief executive officer of Asia-Pacific, Argo Global, told SIRC Today.

Argo operates Lloyd’s syndicate 1200 which specialises in underwriting worldwide property, specialty and non-US liability insurance. The underwriters service liability, marine and energy, property, and specialty.

“This is the review that needs to happen to address the underpinning issues with the syndicates on the Lloyd’s platform,” said Grigg.

“Being part of what is an exciting region, there’s a lot of competition and capacity. Unless you come back to getting the basics right, we all suffer.

“When you get the dynamics of pricing, and risk selection all put under pressure, we all feel it.”

Triggered partly by the heavy losses of 2017, Lloyd’s is conducting a profitability review of underperforming syndicates and lines of business. It aims to reduce the market’s exposure to unprofitable lines of business.

“We’ve seen a lot of syndicates leave and also adjust the lines they offer; we are now getting back to the basics,” Grigg said.

She added that Argo Global has gone through a disciplined assessment process of its own in the last two years to focus on lines that deliver a profitable return to its shareholders.

“We’ve made brave decisions,” she said. “For example, about two years ago Argo got out of the yachts business.”

The key to Argo’s success in the region, according to Grigg, has been through focusing on niche and specialty re/insurance products, such as marine and energy, financial lines, clean energy, accident and health classes, where she sees good returns.

In the last year, Argo has ramped up its expertise in Asia-Pacific, not only through the hire of Grigg back in March, but more recently through the appointment of Michael Scala as chief underwriting officer for Asia-Pacific in October. Both hires were previously at QBE.