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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
HAMILTON, BermudaHiscox Ltd. posted a pretax profit of £211.4 million ($340.7 million) for 2010, about two-thirds of its £320.6 million ($516.7 million) profit for 2009, the company said Monday.
Hiscox said the results were affected by catastrophe claims of £165 million ($265.9 million) stemming from the earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand, among other losses.
For 2010, Hiscox said its gross written premiums totaled £1.43 billion ($2.3 billion), down slightly from £1.44 billion ($2.32 billion) in 2009. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said its combined ratio for 2010 was 89.3% compared with 86% in 2009.
In a statement accompanying the results, Chairman Robert Hiscox slammed the way some brokers are compensated.
Mr. Hiscox said that as fees have replaced commissions as the principal component of brokers’ pay, some brokers have failed to properly charge for their services and instead have “competed with each other to a ridiculous extent on fees.”
“Not getting enough revenue as a result, they bring pressure on insurers to make up the deficiency,” he said.
“This is a big issue at the moment, and I just hope that it will be resolved sensibly before a solution is imposed either by the law, or again by a crusading regulator,” Mr. Hiscox said in the statement.
LONDON—Hiscox Ltd. said it will cut the capacity of its Lloyd’s of London syndicate 33 by £100 million to £900 million ($150.6 million to $1.36 billion) for 2011.