ICAT GRANTED PERMISSION TO LAUNCH SPS

Lloyd’s insurer ICAT has been granted ‘in principle’ approval for a special-purpose syndicate (SPS) to expand its per-risk capacity. The SPS is planned to go live on May 1, subject to completion of the application, with a capacity of £8m ($11.9m), equating to approximately $17m of gross written premium, for the 2015 underwriting year. SPS 6123 will provide additional capacity to syndicate 4242 to enable it to accommodate the “significant growth opportunities” within the medium-sized commercial property sector in the US, the insurer said. The SPS is expected to be capitalised by a subset of existing capital providers to syndicate 4242 as well as new capital providers. The SPS will operate through a variable quota share facility for syndicate 4242 for certain accounts rather than a whole account quota share. ICAT was founded in 1998 and provides property insurance to businesses and homeowners in catastrophe-exposed regions of the US. Following the formation of its Lloyd’s syndicate 4242 in 2007, ICAT has principally underwritten on behalf of the syndicate.