22 July 2016

Financial Times: Beazley plans Ireland base for European operations

[...] The insurer had moved its domicile from Dublin to London this year but retains a presence in the Irish capital, which will give it a base to expand its operations in the EU.

The move comes as other London-based insurers consider post-Brexit options. Although many are hoping that existing “passporting” rights to operate across the EU will be maintained, they are also making contingency plans if this facility is lost for UK-based groups.

Those plans could involve setting up subsidiaries in other parts of the EU, although many insurers are still at the stage of working out which locations would be best.

Beazley said that the results of the referendum vote “will undoubtedly complicate planning for many businesses based in the City of London”, although it added that “for Beazley we do not expect the impact to be greatly disruptive”.

Beazley’s Dublin operation focuses on reinsurance, although its remit is being expanded to other types of insurance.

The change was set in motion before the referendum and Beazley hopes that regulatory approval will come through at the start of next year.

Depending on the outcome of Brexit negotiations, the company could also continue to use the Lloyd’s market to do business in Europe.

The company sees continental Europe as a long-term growth opportunity. “We’re underweight in Europe,” said Andrew Horton, chief executive. “It is a developed insurance market but we think we can bring in some of our specialist insurance products.”

His comments came as Beazley reported first-half results which demonstrated the importance of specialist products, such as cyber and professional indemnity insurance, to the group. [...]

Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)

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