Nephila launching specialty ILS Syndicate 2358 at Lloyd’s for Jan 1st

Nephila Capital, the largest investment manager focused on insurance and reinsurance as well as climate risk, has announced the launch of Syndicate 2358 at Lloyd’s, which will have a specialty lines focus.

The company said that Syndicate 2358 will allow Nephila Capital’s investor-base to access the specialty insurance market via business underwritten in Lloyd’s of London, in addition to the more typical Natural Catastrophe reinsurance and Climate risk based strategies offered by the firm.

Nephila’s Syndicate 2357 at Lloyd’s has already been trading successfully since 2013, backed by funds under the investment manager’s oversight.

The new Syndicate 2358, which will begin trading on January 1st 2022, will focus on short to medium tail lines of business accessed through partnerships with leading underwriters, Nephila said.

These relationships, which Nephila has already been cultivating over its long history, will offer investors unique access to existing profitable insurance and reinsurance markets, the company said, while also allowing those leaders to further develop and invest in their customer proposition.

By using its capital to support leading underwriters in the Lloyd’s market, Nephila can generate a portfolio of specialty lines risk that should be of the highest quality, through its selection of partners and its already deep understanding of the Lloyd’s market landscape.

Sources told us that the new Nephila specialty syndicate has been funded using the Lloyd’s ILS structure London Bridge Risk.

Nephila Syndicate CEO, Adam Beatty commented on the launch, “With our existing Nephila Managing Agency and the worldwide market for specialty risk being centred in London, a new Lloyd’s syndicate was the obvious choice to further enhance our product offering. We’d like to thank Lloyd’s, our risk partners and most of all our investors for supporting this project.”

The syndicate 2358 portfolio will be managed by Active Underwriter, Ross Louden.

Louden explained, “We aim to build a profitable and efficient syndicate. We will do so by working with people who value the tradition of strategic partnerships yet see the future being defined by a greater delineation between leaders and followers, enhanced placement efficiency and an increased reliance on data and portfolio management techniques.”

Nephila Co-CEO, Greg Hagood, also said, “Our investors expressed the desire to access additional non-correlating insurance risks through a trusted institutional manager and we have built a platform that we believe will deliver value for them over the coming years. Nephila has invested in the Lloyd’s proposition since its entry in 2013 and we look forward to developing this and other new products in the years to come.”

Nephila has originally hoped to launch the specialty insurance and reinsurance focused syndicate 2358 for the start of 2021, having announced its intention to launch the syndicate through its dedicated Lloyd’s managing agency Nephila Syndicate Management Ltd (NSM) in 2020.

However, the company told us at the time that it would delay the launch as investors’ timing did not align with the original launch plan.

Now, the timing has clearly come together at a point where the market cycle is offering even more attractive underwriting returns as well, meaning Nephila’s new specialty focused syndicate 2358 and its investors will stand to benefit from hardening market trends.