Chris Johnson, business development director, Aon (Gibraltar)
Johnson began by defining protected cell companies (PCCs): "The concept of a PCC is simply that you have one legal entity, with a series of different cells, each of which is a separate unit within the PCC."
He said PCCs allow companies to separate their assets legally. Johnson added: "Companies usually set up with two classes of shares: core shares that are owned by the sponsor of the overall PCC - these would usually be voting shares; and a series of cellular shares that are usually issued with a nominal share value".
PCCs can be used in three ways:
• Writing portfolios of business
• Fronting programmes of insurance and reinsurance
• Affinity group customer insurance.
The advantages of PCCs include:
• Rapid and low cost set-up
• Minimal management time
• Lower level of capital
• Possibility of acting as incubator cell for standalone captives.
But there are disadvantages:
• Relative lack of control (no voting rights)
• Could affect branding.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
