Alleghany Underwriting's Lloyd's syndicate has pulled out of several lines of business and has made two of its class underwriters redundant. AGY syndicate 376 announced last week it would no longer underwrite marine and casualty treasury reinsurance or direct professional indemnity cover.
It has also withdrawn from directors' and officers' liability (unless written as part of the financial institutions account), bloodstock, accident and health and employment practices liability insurance.
Martin Slade, non-chief executive chairman of Alleghany, said: “We cannot make money out of it. It is not our core area.”
He also confirmed the two class underwriters in the marine treaty and casualty areas had lost their jobs, although other affected employees would be offered positions elsewhere within the group. A spokesman for the company, which employs approximately 100 staff, said the restructuring followed “the disappointing performance of underwriting areas”.
The syndicate lost 28.7% of its stamp capacity of £139.7m for the 1998 year of account. Alleghany has also appointed Michael Carpenter, formerly managing director of Limit, as its first chief executive. Carpenter, who helped raise Limit's capacity to £680m, left the Lloyd's corporate capital vehicle in 2000 and will join Alleghany on June 1.
Slade said: “We needed someone to come in with stature in the market and help us move forward.”
Rupert Atkin, joint active underwriter of syndicate 376, has also been appointed director of underwriting. He joined Alleghany in 1990 as active underwriter for syndicate 1183, which was merged with syndicate 376 last year, and will be working closely with Carpenter.
The syndicate will now focus on core short-tail areas where it has a proven track record and particular expertise. These are property and aviation treaty reinsurance, direct marine, financial institutions and property insurance.
Alleghany is part of Alleghany Corporation, a US business with interest in industrial minerals, industrial fasteners, property management and railroads. Since 2000, the Alleghany Group has provided all of the underwriting capacity on syndicate 376.
