Catlin Group
Encyclopedia
Catlin Group Limited is a Bermuda
-based specialty insurance
and reinsurance
company. Catlin operates six underwriting hubs worldwide and operates nearly 50 offices. It owns the largest syndicate at Lloyd's of London
, based on 2009 gross written premiums. Catlin shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, and the company is a member of the FTSE 250 Index
. The Group celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010.
in 1984 by Stephen Catlin, who today remains chief executive of the Catlin Group. Catlin's first Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 1003) began underwriting in 1985 on behalf of Lloyd's Names (private individuals who invested in the Lloyd's market) with a premium capacity of £6 million.
Syndicate 1003 grew successfully during its early years, outperforming the Lloyd's market as a whole, particularly during the period from 1988-1992 when Lloyd's reported huge financial losses.
By its 10th anniversary in 1995, Syndicate 1003 had increased its premium capacity to £170 million. During that year, the company received a substantial private equity
investment from Western General Insurance Company of Bermuda
, which was controlled by the Pritzker family. The investment allowed Catlin to establish a second Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 2003), which underwrote coverage in parallel with the established Syndicate 1003. While Syndicate 1003 continued to write coverage on behalf of capital supplied by traditional Lloyd's Names, Syndicate 2003 was backed by capital solely supplied by Catlin.
In 1999, Catlin incorporated a holding company in Bermuda, originally called Catlin Westgen Holding Limited and later renamed Catlin Group Limited. Catlin was the first of the traditional Lloyd's of London managing agents to establish a holding company in Bermuda, a strategic move later copied by several of its peers.
Following the World Trade Center
tragedy in 2001, Catlin expanded its operations and strengthened its balance sheet. In 2002, Catlin raised US$532 million in private equity funds from a consortium of investors (including $482 million of new equity capital and the provision of a $50 million term loan facility. The equity capital, in the form of convertible preferred stock, is being provided by a consortium of private equity investors led by Capital Z Financial Services, J.P. Morgan Corsair Capital Partners and The Cypress Group. It was the only company operating at Lloyd's to receive private equity financing in the wake of 9/11; most of the funds that were injected into the insurance market were directed to start-up insurance and reinsurance companies formed in Bermuda
. Following the capital raise, Catlin purchased the capacity that had been supplied to Syndicate 1003 by Lloyd's Names and subsequently merged Syndicate 1003 into Syndicate 2003.
Catlin shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange
in 2004. The Group's initial public offering
, which was several times oversubscribed, raised nearly $200 million in new capital.
In October 2006 Catlin announced that it intended to acquire Wellington Underwriting plc, which managed one of the largest syndicates at Lloyd's and had established underwriting operations in the United States: the acquisition was completed on 18 December 2006.Catlin wants all new employees to come ready made and perfect so that they do not need to spend any money on training new recruits.
Catlin opened its first offices outside of London in 1999 when it established offices in Singapore
and Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia. In 1999 it also acquired a managing general agency in the United States with offices in Houston and New Orleans.
Since that time, Catlin has greatly expanded its network of offices around the world. The Group maintains that these offices serve to diversify Catlin's underwriting portfolio as the offices underwrite regional business that would not normally be written at Lloyd's or in the London market. The offices also allow Catlin to work more closely with clients and their brokers on a local basis.
The United Kingdom hub headquartered in London is Catlin's original operation and includes London wholesale insurance and reinsurance business underwritten by the Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's (Syndicate 2003), the largest syndicate at Lloyd's of London in terms of premium volume, and Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.), which writes UK regional business as well as London market wholesale business. Gross premiums written by the London hub amounted to $2,347 in 2009.
The Bermuda hub consists of the operations of Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.), which underwrites property and casualty treaty reinsurance and selected classes of specialty insurance. Catlin Bermuda also provides intra-Group reinsurance support to other Catlin underwiting subsidiaries. Gross premiums written amounted to US$421 million in 2009.
The United States hub, which trades under the Catlin US brand, includes business underwritten by Catlin's 17 US offices. These offices underwrite on behalf of two US-based insurers owned by Catlin, Catlin Insurance Company Inc. and Catlin Specialty Insurance Company Inc as well as the syndicate at Lloyd's. Gross premiums written amounted to US$581 million in 2009. This hub also is responsible for two Latin American representative offices in São Paulo and Bogota.
The Asia-Pacific hub includes offices in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which were established in 1999 and were the first offices established by Catlin outside of London. The Asia-Pacific hub now includes underwriting offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne and representative offices in Tokyo and Mumbai. Gross premiums written amounted to $129 million in 2009.
The Europe hub was established in 2003 with an office in Cologne. The hub now includes eleven other European offices in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Austria. Gross premiums written amounted to $175 million in 2009.
The Canada hub operates from offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Gross premiums written amounted to $62 million in 2009.
. Standard & Poor's has assigned an insurer financial strength rating of 'A' (Strong) to the Catlin Group.
The Catlin Syndicate also benefits from the 'A+' (Strong) financial strength rating assigned by Standard & Poor's to the overall Lloyd's market.
Catlin Arctic Survey 2009 measured the thickness and density of the permanent sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean
. The measurements were taken by three experienced polar explorers, led by Pen Hadow
, who trekked nearly 450 kilometres over 73 days. The information gathered by the explorers was subsequently analysed by University of Cambridge
scientists, who concluded that the Arctic sea ice could disappear during summers within 20 years.
Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 will focus on what has been described as the 'other' carbon problem beyond climate change
: ocean change. Under the auspices of the Survey, scientists from British, French and Canadian research institutions are gathering at a purpose-built 'Ice Base' at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to study whether the increase in global carbon emissions is causing increased carbon dioxide
absorption by the seas. This could potentially lead to increased ocean acidification
, which could significantly affect species living in the seas and create knock-on effects in the global food chain.
In addition to the Ice Base, more information is being collected during Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 on the thickness of the sea ice, following on from the 2009 Catlin Arctic Survey. Three explorers are again embarking on a two-month trek across the Arctic sea ice, gathering information that is vital for scientists to understand the impact of ice cover reduction on ocean acidification.
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
-based specialty insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
and reinsurance
Reinsurance
Reinsurance is insurance that is purchased by an insurance company from another insurance company as a means of risk management...
company. Catlin operates six underwriting hubs worldwide and operates nearly 50 offices. It owns the largest syndicate at Lloyd's of London
Lloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
, based on 2009 gross written premiums. Catlin shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, and the company is a member of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
. The Group celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010.
History
Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited (CUAL) was established as an underwriting agency at Lloyd's of LondonLloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
in 1984 by Stephen Catlin, who today remains chief executive of the Catlin Group. Catlin's first Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 1003) began underwriting in 1985 on behalf of Lloyd's Names (private individuals who invested in the Lloyd's market) with a premium capacity of £6 million.
Syndicate 1003 grew successfully during its early years, outperforming the Lloyd's market as a whole, particularly during the period from 1988-1992 when Lloyd's reported huge financial losses.
By its 10th anniversary in 1995, Syndicate 1003 had increased its premium capacity to £170 million. During that year, the company received a substantial private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
investment from Western General Insurance Company of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, which was controlled by the Pritzker family. The investment allowed Catlin to establish a second Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 2003), which underwrote coverage in parallel with the established Syndicate 1003. While Syndicate 1003 continued to write coverage on behalf of capital supplied by traditional Lloyd's Names, Syndicate 2003 was backed by capital solely supplied by Catlin.
In 1999, Catlin incorporated a holding company in Bermuda, originally called Catlin Westgen Holding Limited and later renamed Catlin Group Limited. Catlin was the first of the traditional Lloyd's of London managing agents to establish a holding company in Bermuda, a strategic move later copied by several of its peers.
Following the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
tragedy in 2001, Catlin expanded its operations and strengthened its balance sheet. In 2002, Catlin raised US$532 million in private equity funds from a consortium of investors (including $482 million of new equity capital and the provision of a $50 million term loan facility. The equity capital, in the form of convertible preferred stock, is being provided by a consortium of private equity investors led by Capital Z Financial Services, J.P. Morgan Corsair Capital Partners and The Cypress Group. It was the only company operating at Lloyd's to receive private equity financing in the wake of 9/11; most of the funds that were injected into the insurance market were directed to start-up insurance and reinsurance companies formed in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. Following the capital raise, Catlin purchased the capacity that had been supplied to Syndicate 1003 by Lloyd's Names and subsequently merged Syndicate 1003 into Syndicate 2003.
Catlin shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 2004. The Group's initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
, which was several times oversubscribed, raised nearly $200 million in new capital.
In October 2006 Catlin announced that it intended to acquire Wellington Underwriting plc, which managed one of the largest syndicates at Lloyd's and had established underwriting operations in the United States: the acquisition was completed on 18 December 2006.Catlin wants all new employees to come ready made and perfect so that they do not need to spend any money on training new recruits.
Underwriting hubs
Catlin organises its operations into six 'underwriting hubs': United Kingdom, Bermuda, United States, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Canada.Catlin opened its first offices outside of London in 1999 when it established offices in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia. In 1999 it also acquired a managing general agency in the United States with offices in Houston and New Orleans.
Since that time, Catlin has greatly expanded its network of offices around the world. The Group maintains that these offices serve to diversify Catlin's underwriting portfolio as the offices underwrite regional business that would not normally be written at Lloyd's or in the London market. The offices also allow Catlin to work more closely with clients and their brokers on a local basis.
The United Kingdom hub headquartered in London is Catlin's original operation and includes London wholesale insurance and reinsurance business underwritten by the Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's (Syndicate 2003), the largest syndicate at Lloyd's of London in terms of premium volume, and Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.), which writes UK regional business as well as London market wholesale business. Gross premiums written by the London hub amounted to $2,347 in 2009.
The Bermuda hub consists of the operations of Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.), which underwrites property and casualty treaty reinsurance and selected classes of specialty insurance. Catlin Bermuda also provides intra-Group reinsurance support to other Catlin underwiting subsidiaries. Gross premiums written amounted to US$421 million in 2009.
The United States hub, which trades under the Catlin US brand, includes business underwritten by Catlin's 17 US offices. These offices underwrite on behalf of two US-based insurers owned by Catlin, Catlin Insurance Company Inc. and Catlin Specialty Insurance Company Inc as well as the syndicate at Lloyd's. Gross premiums written amounted to US$581 million in 2009. This hub also is responsible for two Latin American representative offices in São Paulo and Bogota.
The Asia-Pacific hub includes offices in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which were established in 1999 and were the first offices established by Catlin outside of London. The Asia-Pacific hub now includes underwriting offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne and representative offices in Tokyo and Mumbai. Gross premiums written amounted to $129 million in 2009.
The Europe hub was established in 2003 with an office in Cologne. The hub now includes eleven other European offices in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Austria. Gross premiums written amounted to $175 million in 2009.
The Canada hub operates from offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Gross premiums written amounted to $62 million in 2009.
Underwriting entities
The business underwritten by the hubs is written on behalf of Catlin-owned insurance carriers. These include the Catlin Syndicate and Lloyd's, Catlin UK, Catlin Bermuda and the two insurers operated by Catlin US.Classes of business
Catlin underwrites more than 30 classes of insurance and reinsurance:- The classes of insurance underwritten by Catlin include property, general liability, professional liability/indemnity, energy, aviation, marine hull and cargo, accident and health, specie, satellite, equine and livestock, product recall, construction and engineering, motor fleet, and inland marine.
- Classes of reinsurance underwritten include property (both catastrophe and pro rata), casualty, marine and aviation, and excess of loss.
Ratings
All of Catlin's underwriting units have been assigned a financial strength rating of 'A' (Excellent) by A.M. BestA.M. Best
A.M. Best Company, Inc., headquartered in Oldwick, New Jersey, is a rating agency designated as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission....
. Standard & Poor's has assigned an insurer financial strength rating of 'A' (Strong) to the Catlin Group.
The Catlin Syndicate also benefits from the 'A+' (Strong) financial strength rating assigned by Standard & Poor's to the overall Lloyd's market.
Catlin Arctic Survey
Catlin is the title sponsor of the Catlin Arctic Survey, an ongoing scientific project to produce scientific data about the impact of climate change and other changes to the environment.Catlin Arctic Survey 2009 measured the thickness and density of the permanent sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
. The measurements were taken by three experienced polar explorers, led by Pen Hadow
Pen Hadow
Rupert Nigel Pendrill Hadow known as Pen Hadow, , is founding director of Geo Mission Ltd, an environmental sponsorship organisation, and British polar guide and explorer. He is the first person to trek solo and without resupply from the north coast of Canada to the North Pole...
, who trekked nearly 450 kilometres over 73 days. The information gathered by the explorers was subsequently analysed by University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
scientists, who concluded that the Arctic sea ice could disappear during summers within 20 years.
Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 will focus on what has been described as the 'other' carbon problem beyond climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
: ocean change. Under the auspices of the Survey, scientists from British, French and Canadian research institutions are gathering at a purpose-built 'Ice Base' at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to study whether the increase in global carbon emissions is causing increased carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
absorption by the seas. This could potentially lead to increased ocean acidification
Ocean acidification
Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....
, which could significantly affect species living in the seas and create knock-on effects in the global food chain.
In addition to the Ice Base, more information is being collected during Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 on the thickness of the sea ice, following on from the 2009 Catlin Arctic Survey. Three explorers are again embarking on a two-month trek across the Arctic sea ice, gathering information that is vital for scientists to understand the impact of ice cover reduction on ocean acidification.