48. United Insurance Brokers
Fee and Comm income (2000): £9.4m
48. United Insurance Brokers
Fee and Comm income (2000): £9.4m
Pre-tax profit (2000): £2.2m
Address: 69 Mansell Street
London
E1 8AN
Tel: 020 7488 0551
Fax: 020 7480 5182
Website: www.uib.co.uk
History: UIB (United Insurance Brokers Ltd) is a fast growing niche Lloyd's insurance broker specialising in energy, aviation, space, construction, marine, reinsurance and political risks.
Formed in 1987 by a breakaway from Marsh & McClennan it focuses on North Africa and the Middle East. UIB has grown from its traditional roots in construction and energy Insurance to encompass most major risks in most parts of the world.
To support the growth UIB now has interests in 15 overseas locations. As a member of the Independent Brokers Association (IBA) UIB is additionally represented in a further 100 countries.
Although traditionally strong in North Africa, Middle East and Japan, UIB is now spreading in Europe, the Indian continent, Asia and the Far East. The philosophy is to support local interests to access Lloyd's and the global markets utilising a multi-cultural team, speaking English, French, Arabic, Urdu, Russian, Japanese, Italian and Spanish.
For the year ended December 2001 fee and commission income was £11.1m and pre-tax profit was £2.7m.
Chief officer: Bassem S Kabban
Biography: Bassem Kabban was born in 1955 in Dhahran and raised in Beirut. He began his insurance career in 1976 in London.
For 23 years, he has been part of the London market scene, of which he spent 11 years with Marsh & McCLennan Middle East (MMME) until January 1987, when he became a founding member of the UIB following a management buyout of MMME.
His core expertise was in marine cargo and oil movements before delving into aviation and developing a comprehensive command of aviation fuelling liability, having handled the placement of risks and negotiated settlements of claims.
When he became the managing director of UIB in January 1998, he carried with him a wealth of experience on the intricacies of insurance broking, in-depth knowledge of marine and aviation business and negotiating skills accumulated over many years.
He has lectured on aspects of marine insurance, particularly on oil movements, to audiences in many countries.
He speaks Arabic and has working knowledge of Japanese.
Major shareholders: The Kabban family
Main lines of business: Marine, energy, aviation, construction, engineering, treaty and political credit insurance
Special schemes: War cover
Number of UK branches: 1
Number of employees (average for 2001): 141
