Daily Briefing: Monday - Shake-up at Jubilee

Watch out: Jubilee has arrived. The raft of management changes at the privately-owned Lloyd’s underwriter – announced this morning – demonstrate that its new owner, Ryan Specialty Group, means business. RSG, run by the legendary Pat Ryan – founder and retired executive chairman of Aon – bought the business for a rumoured £35m in May. It now has its own capacity in Lloyd’s, with two syndicates to its name, and has thus stolen a march on rivals such as Aon, Willis and BMS Associates, who were rumoured to be seeking their own underwriting platforms in Lloyd’s without success.

Jubilee has had a tough couple of years. Its ambitions in UK motor were thwarted by the horrors of the bodily injury explosion, and its combined operating ratio on this business topped an eye-watering 160% before it ran it off in March. This obviously left it ripe for a sale.

Ryan said this morning that Jubilee would “introduce and support new products and programs in global markets in a meaningful way”. What does that mean? The parent company has yet to say – but no doubt, a strategy will be unveiled soon. By the looks of this management team, it will be an aggressive one. With former Lloyd’s chairman Max Taylor at the helm as executive chairman and RSG’s own Johnny Rowell as chief executive, the parent group has signalled its intention to keep a tight grip on its new acquisition, as well as its big plans for it.

All change

Talking of change, interesting moves at SSP, where former Accenture partner Stephen Lathrope has signed up as insurance managing director. This follows hot on the heels of a reorganisation of the firm’s network division under Jonathan Davey. SSP is repositioning itself as consultant to insurers, as well as a network under the Keychoice brand, and its traditional role as a software house. Bringing in a big name from the consultant landscape is a significant step, and should serve the business well. Now, it’s all about delivery.