Insurer to launch professional risks syndicate managed by Chaucer
The plans of Bermuda insurer Quanta to enter the UK market have been revealed, with the insurer planning to establish an £80m professional risks syndicate at Lloyd's.
A spokesman for Quanta declined to comment on the move, but a source close to the deal confirmed that the syndicate would have capacity of £80m.
It is understood that the syndicate will be managed by Chaucer Insurance Holdings on a third-party basis, but sources said that as negotiations were ongoing between Chaucer and Quanta, no launch date had been finalised.
Chaucer already manages one Lloyd's syndicate on a third-party basis, with the insurer running Syndicate 3210, which has a capacity of £316m, on behalf of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.
The Quanta syndicate is expected to write professional indemnity (PI) cover after Quanta recruited former SVB PI underwriter Mark Wheeler earlier this year.
But a significant influx of capacity into the PI market in 2004 has raised concern among insurers about undercutting on rates, with a leading Lloyd's PI underwriter recently warning that some insurers were slashing rates by up to 40% in an attempt to win new business.
The Quanta syndicate could also write directors' and officers', errors and omissions, employment practices liability and fiduciary liability insurance, in which the insurer has some expertise.
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