Broker Howden launched Howden Ventures, a global investment and risk incubator with £500 million ($609.7 million) of delegated underwriting capacity for managing general agents and insurtechs.
Subject to Lloyd’s approval, the platform includes a delegated underwriting authority backed by Lloyd’s underwriters including Tokio Marine Kiln, Chaucer and Liberty Specialty Markets, Howden said in a statement. The platform provides £500 million of syndicated underwriting capacity to support the development of new insurance solutions.
The amount is underwriting capacity from Lloyd’s syndicates, the broker said in an email to BestWire. Howden will invest £10 million directly into the startups. They are two separate pots of capital, the email said.
“As new funding for the global insurtech sector continues to fall following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Howden Ventures has initially committed £10 million of new funding to the sector, with a view to support at least five new startups over the next two years,” the broker said.
Tom Hoad will lead the collaborative industry initiative, Howden said.
“Combining the managing general agent model with insurtech innovation provides the ideal platform to foster collaboration, and to merge external talent, fresh thinking, new technology, funding, and underwriting capacity,” Hoad said in a statement. “By doing so Howden Ventures is aligning interests from all corners of the market to create an economic model that will help the insurance industry invest in the type of long-term, innovative solutions that clients are looking for.”
“MGAs are the innovation dynamite of the insurance industry,” David Howden, chief executive officer, Howden, said in a statement. “Cyber insurance, insurance for renewables, (directors and officers) insurance — they were all born in the MGA marketplace, where capital meets innovative and entrepreneurial talent and capacity providers can be part of critical (research and development) that clients are crying out for by sharing the risk.”
“Howden’s new commercial mechanism is a great example of industry collaboration, which leverages the Lloyd’s market’s ecosystem of innovation and the MGA model to fast track new solutions,” Dawn Miller, commercial director, Lloyd’s, said in a statement.
Specialty broker Miller recently announced a partnership with maritime technology provider Clearwater Dynamics in conjunction with Ukrainian authorities to enable full war risks insurance coverage for vessels operating in the Black Sea. The solution will be backed by Lloyd’s and London market insurers, who will provide insurance capacity to cover the policies in full, Miller said at the time.
Howden is No. 12 on Best’s Review’s global broker ranking with 2022 total revenue of $2.35 billion.
Lloyd’s has a current Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).