By Ryan Hewlett

Feb 13 - (The Insurer) - London-Bermuda specialty carrier Convex Group has received in-principle approval to launch Names-backed Lloyd’s Syndicate 1984, marking the long-anticipated return to Lime Street of Stephen Catlin and Paul Brand.

• Catlin and Brand return to Lloyd’s with 1.4 syndicate launch

• Syndicate 1984 targeting £150mn in GWP for 2025

• Backed by private Names capital; will write share of existing Convex accounts

• CEO Brand: Lure of global licences an attractive proposition

• Convex Insurance UK’s Jacqueline Wiffen to serve as active underwriter

Convex – which this publication revealed last year was mulling a Lloyd’s entrance – will commence underwriting through the new Lloyd’s platform from 1 April 2025.

Syndicate 1984 will be led by Convex Insurance UK CUO Jacqueline Wiffen as active underwriter and has an initial target to underwrite £150mn ($185mn) of GWP in 2025.

The majority of exposure will emanate from Convex’s outwards reinsurance program, alongside selected lines of international business including accident and health, casualty, crisis management, equine, livestock and aquaculture, energy, marine, political risk and property.

Syndicate 1984, brought to market with adviser Gallagher Re, will be supported by Lloyd’s Names and managed at formation with support from third-party managing agent Asta.

The syndicate launch will mark a return to Lloyd’s for Convex founding chairman Catlin and CEO Brand. The former first entered Lloyd’s in 1973 and in 1984 founded Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited, later part of Catlin Group Limited.

Confirming the launch in an interview with The Insurer, Brand acknowledged that the group’s management has Lloyd’s “flowing through its DNA” and that it continues to be a core insurance market for the carrier.

As previously reported, Convex, which is majority-owned by private equity firm Onex, considered formally applying to establish a Lloyd’s syndicate in 2019 but decided against it at a time when Lloyd’s was itself retrenching following the market's heavy losses in 2017-18.

“Lloyd’s management has clearly been working assiduously to try and make Lloyd's a more attractive place for companies like Convex to think about being participants,” Brand said.

He added: “While the narratives between Convex and Lloyd’s did not align initially, we've continued to talk to Lloyd’s from then until now and we feel that now is the right time to enter this fantastic marketplace.”

Brand said entering Lloyd’s has always been a “distinct possibility” for Convex and highlighted the opportunities afforded by Lloyd’s “unique” distribution network and global licences.

The Convex co-founder noted that the syndicate would be almost entirely backed by private capital from launch following “fruitful” discussions with members' agents including Hampden Agencies.

Brand said private capital, which continues to make up around 9 percent of Lloyd’s capacity, remains a “vital and highly resilient” pool of capital within the Lloyd’s market. He added that the carrier may also look to “take full advantage” of the capital diversification opportunities afforded by recent market innovations such as Lloyd’s investment platform London Bridge 2.

“London Bridge 2 is quite an interesting piece of financial engineering, and we feel that might enable other investors, and potentially Convex itself, to make investments in to structures that then could participate in our Lloyd's syndicate and to do a variety of different things,” he said.

“Whilst that's not the day one plan, I'd be surprised if we did not take advantage of some of that thoughtful work that has been done there.”

The arrival of a Convex syndicate will also be a boon for Lloyd’s existing management, with the launch coming at a time when the Corporation is seeking to encourage large global carriers to consider establishing a Lloyd’s presence.

Last year, both Aviva and Fidelis entered the market – albeit through different approaches – while AIG in January launched Syndicate 2478 with backing from funds managed by Blackstone. Similar to Convex 1984, AIG’s Syndicate 2478 was launched as a multi-year participant on AIG's outwards reinsurance program.

Convex has enjoyed rapid growth since its launch in 2019 under the leadership of Catlin and Brand, a partnership which oversaw the build-out of Catlin Group prior to its $4.1bn acquisition by XL in 2015.

The private equity-owned carrier's GWP jumped 39 percent to $4.22bn in 2023, up from $3.04bn in 2022 and ahead of a previously disclosed $4bn target. It is understood to have written in excess of $5bn GWP in 2024.