Beazley Insurance Co. Rating
Beazley Group PLC
14 July 2005
BEAZLEY INSURANCE COMPANY, INC RATED A- (EXCELLENT) BY A.M. BEST
Rating Marks Further Step in Development of
Beazley's US Business
London, 14 July 2005 - Beazley Group, plc (BEZ.L) announced today that its U.S.
admitted insurance subsidiary, Beazley Insurance Company, Inc, has been assigned
a rating of A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best. The rating marks a further step forward
for Beazley, which earlier this year became the first Lloyd's-based insurance
group with a subsidiary licensed to underwrite insurance business on an admitted
basis throughout the United States.
In announcing the rating, A.M. Best commented on the 'favourable track record'
of Beazley's Lloyd's syndicates and the 'experienced management teams' at both
the syndicates and Beazley Insurance Company. It added: 'The rating also
acknowledges Beazley Insurance Company's quality balance sheet, which is
unencumbered by debt and any prior year reserve liabilities.'
Welcoming the rating, Andrew Beazley, Chief Executive of the Beazley Group,
said: 'Our strategy in the United States has two elements. We continue to write
large scale US risks on a surplus lines basis in London, as we have done for
nearly 20 years. But we are also developing a significant local US underwriting
capability to write small and mid-size specialty lines risks and high value
homeowners' property risks.
'Our admitted carrier, Beazley Insurance Company, will focus on the small and
mid-size specialty lines business that would not normally be underwritten at
Lloyd's. We believe there is a substantial opportunity for an insurer that
brings seasoned underwriters to this segment of the market. We have assembled a
team of underwriters with an average in excess of 15 years' experience in the
insurance business. At many insurers, underwriters cut their teeth on small and
mid-size risks. Not at Beazley.'
Beazley has long been one of the major underwriters of US business in the London
insurance market, writing not only property business but also holding a
particularly strong position in specialty lines such as D&O, E&O and employment
practices liability insurance. The firm's current US strategy originated in
2002, when Beazley went public on the London Stock Exchange, raising funds for
the controlled expansion of its business. Subsequent steps included:
• July 2004. Beazley USA, the group's wholly owned US-based underwriting
management company, hires Kingsley Flynn to head its property group in the
United States. Mr. Flynn and his team are focusing initially on high value
homeowners' business in the hurricane-prone states of Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina and North Carolina. The US property group is headquartered in Ponte
Vedra Beach, Florida.
• August 2004. Beazley USA hires Nicholas Bozzo to head its US specialty
lines group, headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. The firm has since
recruited senior insurance professionals to serve as regional underwriting
managers and product line managers for specialty lines business.
• November 2004. Beazley agrees to purchase Omaha Property & Casualty
Insurance Company, an admitted insurer in all fifty US States, from the Mutual
of Omaha. The company has since been renamed Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. A
$190 million rights issue in the UK raised funds to support the acquisition and
Beazley's broader growth strategy. The acquisition closed earlier this year.
Beazley USA now has employees in six offices in the United States, and plans to
build a nationwide network over time. 'Our goal,' said Nicholas Bozzo, Head of
US Specialty Lines, 'is to provide unrivalled client service, working with well
respected local brokers, region by region. We want to be known as the most
responsive insurer in the market.'
- END -
Contact: Jeff Koenig: (860) 677 3701
Nicholas Bozzo: (860) 677 3703
William Pitt
(HawkPartners): (203) 977 7771
Notes to editors:
Background to Beazley
Beazley Group, plc (BEZ.L), founded in 1986, is the parent company of specialist
insurance businesses with operations in the UK and the United States. Beazley
manages two Lloyd's syndicates (Syndicate 2623 and Syndicate 623) with aggregate
underwriting capacity in 2005 of £742m ($1.4bn). Both syndicates are rated A by
A.M. Best. The Beazley syndicates focus on specialist risk business in selected
markets, including professional indemnity, commercial property, marine,
reinsurance, and personal lines. Beazley is a market leader in many of its
chosen segments, such as professional indemnity insurance for US law firms and
for US architects and engineers. Beazley is quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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