London

Andrew Lewis has outlined growth plans for Xitus, a niche global legacy firm he has co-founded that will focus on non-life and reinsurance deals of $5mn-$50mn.

The platform has gained Lloyd’s coverholder status along with capacity from Beazley, Axis and Greenlight Re, and started to bind risks in contingency, before expanding to other business lines.

Major M&A this year has settled the future of a number of players – while the hard market presents an opportunity for challengers.

Andrew Hedges – who writes the book – will leave the business after a transitional period to oversee the run-off.

The band had filed a claim against insurers including Talbot, Liberty Mutual, Brit and Munich Re’s Great Lakes Insurance.

Speakers at the London Market Conference clashed over the role of data in innovation.

The market share for the storm of 3%-5% is below syndicates’ historical average for US wind events.

Moves to push down London broker commissions highlights the options open to write reinsurance platforms in other markets.

As a result of the retirements of Nick Ford and Julian Leigh, SA Meacock & Company plans to tender capacity on its Syndicate 727 in the Lloyd’s capacity auctions.

Matthew Wilson, Matthew Moore, Emma Woolley and David Croom-Johnson have stepped down from the board.

In the last two days of a consultation on the new iMRC template, the volume of responses surged by more than 2,500, leading to a revised timeline for its launch.

Lockton said the new program provides full access to London market capacity, estimated to be in excess of $850mn for custody coverage.