Lloyd’s backs £40m transactional risk MGA targeting private capital
Syndicates in the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance market, Lloyd’s of London, have agreed to provide up to £40m of risk capital per policy to back a new managing general agent in the City focused on the private capital sector.
Alpha TR, a speciality insurance managing general agent (MGA), launched on Monday as a Lloyd’s of London coverholder offering international transactional risk insurance to the private capital and alternative asset fund sectors, which is backed by insurance giants AXA XL and Aviva.
MGAs use capital from large insurers to underwrite on their behalf, giving insurers access to specialised product lines without building in-house capabilities.
Most of Alpha TR’s premium forecast comes from outside the UK, and it will provide M&A insurance for secondary fund buyout transactions, tax insurance covering all aspects of international private capital funds, and contingent insurance.
The firm’s management team will be led by managing director Richard Taylor-Whiteway, previously a tax lawyer at CMS, a former director of insurance agency Brockwell Capital, and a broker at M&A insurance specialist, Liva.
Joining Taylor-Whiteway as directors are Dave Luckett, former corporate lawyer at DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells with senior underwriting experience, and Laurence Tarr, director at insurance agency CBC and senior underwriter at Brockwell Capital. He said: “The opportunity to work alongside two best-in-class transactional risk underwriters, with a significant line from blue-chip risk capital, and supported by SRG, is irresistible.”
“We look forward to assisting our clients and broker partners with executing their transactions and delivering above-market results for our capacity providers,” Taylor-Whiteaway added.
Lloyd’s sees growth of MGA’s
MGAs are increasingly tapping into Lloyd’s syndicates for specialised lines of cover, and demand for the coverage they provide has increased significantly as the insurance landscape has shifted over the past decade, filling gaps in niche and specialist coverage areas.
Lloyd’s of London provided K2 PI, an MGA specialising in professional indemnity, with 100 per cent backing, which managing director Richard Smart told City AM in June “means we have licences to write international business, whereas many MGAs have UK insurance company backing, which limits them to UK business.”