IGI publishes Q3 2019 trading statement
Gross Premiums Written increased by 16% to $74 million (2018: $64 million)
Premium rates on renewal business increased by 10.6%
IGI remains strongly capitalised to take advantage of current market conditions through the January renewal season
“The global insurance market is in a better position than we have seen for a long time. The broader insurance landscape has seen better market conditions and significantly improved rates across various lines of business.” said Wasef Jabsheh, Founder, Vice Chairman and CEO of IGI. “We have laid the foundation for long-term sustainable and profitable growth and now there is a good opportunity to deploy additional capital profitably.”
Rates across our various specialty classes of business are moving in the right direction, while market discipline continues to improve. Premium rates on renewal business are up approximately 10.6% across the IGI portfolio, with the most significant increases in the London marketplace in Specialty and Casualty lines including Directors & Officers, Professional Indemnity, Financial Institutions and Aviation. As rate momentum across our portfolio continues to build, we look forward to completing our NASDAQ public market listing in the first quarter of 2020 with Tiberius (NASDAQ: TIBR). This will add approximately $120 million of equity to IGI’s balance sheet, which will allow the deployment of more capital to take advantage of these attractive worldwide market conditions.
IGI’s primary focus has always been disciplined underwriting and careful business selection with an emphasis on in-depth risk assessment of the underlying exposure. Given current market conditions, this will continue to enable IGI to achieve lower-volatility total value creation (tangible book value growth per share plus dividends) via reinsurance purchases that are designed to enhance risk-adjusted returns whilst using treaty reinsurance to protect capital.
Unfortunately, we have had several recent catastrophic events including hurricane Dorian and Typhoon Faxai which have caused devastation to communities in both the Atlantic and Pacific. One of the responsibilities of specialty (re)insurers is to help these communities get back on their feet quickly. Proactive and speedy claims settlement is a hallmark of our company and IGI is reserving approximately $2 million on a gross and net basis for company-wide catastrophe claims in the third quarter.
Finally, IGI’s investment portfolio has not been repositioned from the half year and retains its significant cash position as the yield environment worsened in the quarter. We will continue to opportunistically move cash into highly-rated short-term fixed income securities to generate additional revenue without a meaningful change in our conservative financial positioning.
Authored by IGI
About IGI
Established in 2001, International General Insurance (IGI) is a global privately-owned specialist commercial insurer and reinsurer. Our vision is to be the company of choice for clients and brokers through market-leading service and our reputation for stable management and capital security.
A diverse and highly experienced team of underwriters operates our office in London. We also have offices in Dubai, Amman, Casablanca and Kuala Lumpur.
Our diverse portfolio of specialty lines includes Energy, Property, Construction & Engineering, Ports & Terminals, Financial Institutions, Aviation, Professional Indemnity, Political Violence, Legal Expenses, D&O, Casualty, Forestry and Treaty Reinsurance.
Standard and Poor’s upgraded our financial strength rating to “A- “, with a Stable outlook. A.M. Best rated the company A- (Excellent), with a Positive outlook, stating, “the revised outlook reflects IGI’s consistent record of very strong operating performance and the continuous improvement in its enterprise risk management framework.”
We take pride in providing proactive claims management, coupled with open communication, leading to the efficient handling of claims. We endeavour to act fairly and honourably in our relations with clients and brokers.