Asta, the leading third party manager of Lloyd’s syndicates with over £700 million of underwriting capacity under management, has announced that Lloyd’s Franchise Board has granted “in principle” approval for Asta Managing Agency Ltd to establish and manage Syndicate 1729 a new owner managed syndicate.

The Syndicate, which plans to begin underwriting on 1st January 2014, will be led by Duncan Dale as Active Underwriter and will cover a range of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance lines. 51%, of the Syndicate’s underwriting capital will be provided by ProAssurance Corporation, with the remaining 49% from other sources of third party capital, principally private names.

Commenting on the new syndicate, Stephen Cane, Asta CEO said: “Asta is very pleased to have received “in-principle” approval for this entrepreneurial start up. We recognised early on that this was a rare opportunity to create a new, owner managed syndicate dedicated solely to the Lloyd’s Marketplace. The approval demonstrates again the Marketplace’s capabilities to foster and nurture entrepreneurial talent.
Asta believe the financial backing of ProAssurance Corporation, other corporates and Private Names Capital provides a powerful capital base for the syndicate.”

Duncan Dale added: “We’re excited about the opportunity to build a new syndicate and we believe the concept is fully in line with Lloyd’s 2025 Vision. The backing of a strong, diverse capital base and Asta’s undoubted governance capabilities provide excellent support for the venture and we look forward to actively contributing to the Market in 2014 and thereafter.”

Notes for Editors

About Asta
Asta Managing Agency Ltd is the leading Lloyd’s third party manager of syndicates with over £700 million of gross underwriting capacity under management and is responsible for seven syndicates: Ariel (formerly Arrow) s.1910; Sirius s.1945; Channel s.2015; Nephila s. 2357; Dale s.2525; Doré s.2526 and ICAT s.4242.

Asta Capital Limited is the parent company of:

• Asta Insurance Markets Ltd
• Asta Managing Agency Ltd
• Asta Insurance Services Ltd
• Asta Management Services Ltd
• Asta Underwriting Management Ltd

 
Asta Insurance Services Limited: provides insurance services to the corporate market and includes the run-off management of HIH (UK).
The name Asta originates from Greek and means “like a star”. For more information visit www.asta-uk.com

About ProAssurance
ProAssurance Corporation is an industry-leading specialty insurance company with extensive expertise in medical professional liability, products liability for medical technology and life sciences and legal professional liability.
ProAssurance has total assets of $5.1bn and Shareholders Equity of $2.3bn as of 30 June, 2013 and is recognised as one of the top performing insurance companies in America by virtue of its inclusion in the Ward’s 50 for the past seven years. ProAssurance Group is rated “A+” (Superior) by A.M. Best and ProAssurance is rated “A” (Strong) by Fitch Ratings.

About Duncan Dale
Duncan Dale was most recently Head of Property and Casualty for the London operations of Amlin PLC. He has over 30 years of experience in the London insurance and reinsurance market.

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