CFC 1988 outperforms fellow fourth-year syndicates as GWP jumps 18%

By Ryan Hewlett

March 24 - (The Insurer) - CFC Syndicate 1988 was again the leading performer among the cohort of new businesses to enter Lloyd’s in 2021, posting a combined ratio of 77.7% in its fourth year of operation.

Analysis of syndicate reports and accounts by The Insurer showed that Syndicate 1988 was the top performer last year among the six underwriting vehicles to enter the Lloyd’s market during 2021.

Syndicate 1988, which is focused on bringing emerging and digital economy risks into Lloyd’s, began trading in June 2021 with backing from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and ILS fund Stone Ridge Asset Management.

The Asta-managed syndicate reported a profit of $76.7 million in its fourth year of operation, up from $55.1 million in 2023. Its combined ratio improved 3.2 percentage points to 77.7% in 2024, compared to 80.9% in the prior year.

Gross written premium jumped 18% to $347.3 million in 2023, compared to $294.1 million in 2023. Cyber and technology continued to constitute the bulk of the portfolio in 2024 at $224.3 million.

In its latest accounts, the syndicate noted that it took on the lead position on CFC's cyber and technology facilities in 2024. It said this marked a “natural progression” of the business given CFC's “significant expertise” in these areas.

MOSAIC 1609 POSTS DEBUT SUB-100% COMBINED RATIO

Mosaic Syndicate 1609 shaved 21.4 points off its combined ratio in 2024 to post a full-year result of 79.4%, dipping below the 100% threshold for the first time since its launch.

Mosaic said in its report and accounts that the improvement had been driven by “reorganising a benign claims environment on prior years” and the outperformance of loss ratios.

GWP totalled $329.9 million in 2024, up 13.7% from the $289.9 million it wrote in its third year of operation. In addition, the 2021 startup reported a profit for the year of $44.4 million, compared with $7.5 million a year earlier.

Bermuda-based Mosaic writes non-natural catastrophe-exposed specialty classes of business including cyber, financial lines, political risk, political violence, professional lines and transactional liability through Syndicate 1609. The syndicate, also managed by Asta, received approval from Lloyd’s to increase its stamp capacity for the 2025 year of account from $261 million to $324 million.

IQUW 1856 GWP SURPASSES $1.1 BILLION

IQUW 1856, formerly Arcus Syndicate 1856, reported a combined ratio of 83.6% for the 2024 calendar year, a deterioration of 2.6 points year on year, while profit rose 13.3% to $156.4 million in 2024.

IQUW noted that it achieved the combined ratio despite large loss events including the Baltimore bridge incident and the strengthening of reserves for the Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

Syndicate 1856 has exposure to the conflict through its insurance and reinsurance portfolios, principally relating to war on land and contingent aviation war and hull coverage for aircraft lessors. The booked ultimate for these losses as at December 31 2024 was $230.6 million, up from $64.9 million in 2023 gross of reinsurance and $76.4 million net of reinsurance.

GWP grew by 21.5% to $1.1 billion, up from $913 million in the prior year. The syndicate pointed to strong growth across the portfolio despite “rating pressure” in multiple classes.

INIGO GWP UP 21.9% TO $1.33 BILLION

Inigo Syndicate 1301 was not far behind IQUW 1856 with a full-year combined ratio of 87.3%, a 1.9 point deterioration year on year for the carrier, which was founded by former Hiscox chief underwriter officer Richard Watson.

Syndicate 1301 wrote $1.34 billion in GWP in 2024, up 21.9% year on year.

Inigo noted that property and aviation war lines experienced rate softening in 2024 as a result of surplus capacity, while onshore energy rates were impacted by an increased use of captives by large US companies.

In contrast, the syndicate said its energy liability and general liability lines experienced “robust performance” as a result of strong rates and the creation of a new auto liability business.

During 2023 Inigo reported a pre-tax profit of $163.5 million, up 17.8% from $138.7 million in 2023. It also posted an investment return gain of $45.2 million in 2023, up from $27.2 million in 2023.

KI GWP CONTRACTS 8.7% TO $800 MILLION

Ki Syndicate 1618, the market’s first “digital” syndicate, posted a 90% percent combined ratio in 2024, a 0.6 point deterioration on 2023.

The syndicate, led by founding CEO Mark Allan, reported an underwriting result of $66.3 million in its fourth year, and a profit of $101 million, both broadly flat year on year.

Syndicate 1618, which is backed by Blackstone and Brit’s parent Fairfax Financial, wrote $800.9 million in GWP last year, down 8.75%. The contraction reflected portfolio remediation in several historically volatile classes, a reduction in prior year gross premium estimates, as well as competitive market conditions, according to the syndicate.

Ki noted that 2023 had “steady top-line growth” despite “challenging” market conditions in certain long-tail classes.

2024 also saw Ki complete its separation from former parent Brit to become a standalone company within the Fairfax group, with third-party managing agent Asta taking over management of Ki Syndicate 1618.

PARSYL 1796 FALLS TO LOSS WITH 112.2% COMBINED RATIO

Parsyl Syndicate 1796 reported a significant deterioration in its combined ratio to 112.2% in 2024, compared with 95.6 percent in the prior year. Supply chain-focused Parsyl posted GWP of $14.05 million marking a year-on-year contraction of 4.4% percent.

The syndicate also reported a loss of $669,000 in 2024, following its debut profit of $179,600 in 2023.