BMS's new MGA to have £62.5m capacity

(Re)insurance broker BMS has launched Pioneer Underwriting, a Lloyd's managing general agency (MGA), in conjunction with Liberty Syndicates.

The MGA will write a wide range of lines and have an initial capacity of £62.5m. It will act as a following market only.

Darren Doherty, previously managing director of BMS's direct and facultative unit, will run Pioneer. Doherty has been with BMS since 1998.

The MGA's underwriting team will be headed by active underwriter Andrew Stout. He has over 30 years' experience underwriting many different classes of business within Lloyd’s at QBE, Jago and Syndicate 604.

“At BMS we have made no secret of our ambitions to expand the business both in terms of size and service offering," said BMS chief executive Carl Beardmore in a statement. "Darren and his team launching Pioneer to write business at Lloyd’s we have achieved an early target for 2011. We have set ourselves some challenging objectives over the next five years, and we believe Pioneer will help us fulfil these goals.”

Doherty added: "We expect this initiative to promote a stable and supportive market for BMS’ prime accounts to the benefit of all parties concerned.”