Nephila backed Blenheim Underwriting to launch managing agency

Blenheim Underwriting, the Lloyd’s focused insurance and reinsurance underwriter that counts ILS specialist Nephila Capital as a key backer, is launching a managing agency which will help the company better manage the connection of its risks to a wide range of capital providers.

When Blenheim launched its syndicate 5886 at Lloyd’s in 2016, Director Peter Scales told us that Nephila Capital would be, “the largest single contributor to a syndicate stamp that is comprised entirely of third party capital ranging from traditional Lloyd’s names to sophisticated ILS funds.”

Now the company has received approval in principal for the launch of its own managing agency, as it seeks to take more control of its own destiny and better manage its client relationships, both in terms of cedents and its wide-range of capital providers.

The Lloyd’s Board approved the launch of the managing agency in principal, so now Blenheim Underwriting will move on to seeking regulatory approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and then move forwards into the Lloyd’s ‘making it happen’ stage of the process.

Peter Scales, CEO of Blenheim’s owner White Bear, and a director of Blenheim, commented, “This is one of the principal stepping stones that we targeted in building a modern independent underwriting business based on our first class underwriting teams. It marks a further development in our ability to best serve clients and their brokers, as well as a wide variety of capital providers in the evolving Lloyd’s, wider insurance and capital markets.”

Blenheim is a 100% owned subsidiary of White Bear Capital, which is majority owned by its staff but also counts Nephila Holdings Limited as a minority investor.

Blenheim underwrites across a range of business lines at Lloyd’s, including property treaty reinsurance, D&F property, specialty reinsurance, contingency and accident & health.

Its Blenheim Syndicate 5886 has a stamp capacity of £250 million for 2020, which is sourced by third party capital providers, ranging from private individuals to ILS funds and other trade capital providers.

Having its own managing agency will enable Blenheim to expand its capacity through new third-party capital providers, which could include more capital sourced from the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market in time.