Advent Capital Holdings Ltd. and Brit Ltd., both units of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., on Wednesday said they may combine some of their Lloyd’s of London business.
A portfolio review at Advent will focus on which parts can be transferred to Brit and what might be placed in runoff, the companies said in a joint statement.
The move is due to “considerable strategic challenges currently facing the Advent syndicate,” the statement said.
“We believe this is the right and best approach to building on the value we have created in recent years at Advent,” Nigel Fitzgerald, CEO of Advent, said in the statement. “We look forward to working closely with the team at Brit to achieve that objective.”
“We are working closely with the management team of Advent to design what we believe will be an optimum portfolio for our business and look forward to welcoming Advent team members to Brit,” Matthew Wilson, CEO of Brit, said in the statement.
Advent and Brit are part of Fairfax Financial, the business empire of Canadian investor Prem Watsa, sometimes referred to as Canada’s Warren Buffet due to Mr. Watsa’s affinity for the insurance sector
“Fairfax’s commitment to allow our businesses to operate on a decentralized basis is unaffected by this action, as is our resolve to always do the right thing by our customers and our people,” Mr. Watsa said in the statement.
Jon Hancock, director of performance management at Lloyd’s, said in the statement: “We welcome the collaboration with and support of the wider Fairfax Group in showing leadership in exploring ways to enhance their group’s Lloyd’s business performance.”
Lloyd’s of London insurer Brit Ltd. on Thursday said it has increased the collateralized reinsurance capacity provided by special purpose insurer Versutus Ltd. to support risks attached to Brit’s North American property insurance portfolio.