Canopius Group, a leading global specialty (re)insurer, today announced an agreement with Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance (SFMI), its substantial minority shareholder and business partner, to underwrite US admitted business on its highly rated A++ paper. This agreement marks the most significant business cooperation to date between the two parties as they seek to develop opportunities in partnership across the globe.
As a first step under this agreement, the Ocean Marine and Management and Professional Lines teams of Canopius Underwriting Agency, Inc. (CUAI) will write admitted business using SFMI’s paper. This complements Canopius USA’s existing ability to write non-admitted business through Canopius US Insurance, Inc. (CUSI) and Canopius Lloyd’s Syndicate 4444.
Lisa Davis, a highly experienced leader in the U.S. specialty insurance industry, was appointed as President and Chief Underwriting Officer of Canopius USA in September 2020. In the first year of her tenure, Davis has made great strides toward realizing her vision of capitalizing on the numerous synergies between Canopius’s existing U.S. operations. Building on those combined strengths, Canopius USA doubled its gross written premiums in 2020 and will nearly double again in 2021.
The finalization of the Group’s US admitted partnership with SFMI will fuel Canopius USA’s plans to expand its offerings in the specialty insurance market. Currently they include open market property, ocean marine, management and professional and cyber business distributed through a broad range of insurance market intermediaries including retail and wholesale agents and brokers. Canopius USA also supports additional lines including property, general liability, auto and surety through partnerships with specialized managing general agents.
“The ability to offer SFMI’s highest quality admitted paper provides us with a strong position to grow our business and provide the most value to our partners and insureds in the U.S.,” said Davis. “This is an exciting time for Canopius USA as we build a company with a flexible and entrepreneurial spirit, backed by the strength and stability of multiple world-class insurance platforms, and the experience of a global specialty lines market leader.”
Michael Watson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canopius Group said: “This agreement marks the most important step to date in our deepening relationship with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. Since their initial investment in Canopius in 2019 we have been collaborating on a variety of business opportunities and I am confident there will be many more to come. That will serve to strengthen further the growing partnership between our two companies”.
SFMI stated, “We are delighted to make the first step with Canopius in entering the biggest market in the world. Through collaboration with Canopius, SFMI expects not only to grow financially but to have a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the U.S. insurance market.”