Insurance and reinsurance specialist Neon has been revealed as the lead of the newly established London Political Risks Insurance Consortium, with MS Amlin being announced as a joint agreement party.
The new initiative will be led by Nicholas Robinson, who was recently promoted to Head of Specialty at Neon, and is designed to respond to growing levels of political uncertainty across the world, subsequently driving up demand for political risks insurance protection.
The London Political Risks Insurance Consortium is targeting corporate investors and financial institutions, providing these with insurance coverage for assets which can be located anywhere across the globe, including in emerging markets.
The consortium has a $100 million limit per policy, and is made up entirely of Lloyd’s capacity. With a maximum policy period of seven years, it offers insurance protection that provides customers with “longer-term peace of mind than is typically available,” for a number of risks. This includes confiscation, expropriation, nationalisation, deprivation, and political violence & war.
It’s expected that the new consortium will enable syndicates at Lloyd’s to compete more easily for larger risks demanding greater capacity at more attractive rates, enabling brokerage firms to access underwriting expertise in a single meeting.
Robinson commented: “Political Risks insurance has long been a strength for Lloyd’s and Neon’s team has more than half a century of combined experience in this specialist field. This includes the expertise to consider confiscation of business for assets owned through shareholding. The consortium can also support the growing group of financial institutions looking to lend into emerging markets and which therefore require country risk coverage.
“The consortium will provide the necessary scale and breadth of coverage for both London-based and global clients at a time where there is growing demand for the product, following various loss events in South America, Eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia.”
