Aviva spies ‘accretive growth opportunities’ through ‘dual stamp authority’ approach with Probitas

Insurer Aviva plans to develop a “dual stamp authority” model with recently acquired insurance platform Probitas in order to tap into “accretive growth opportunities” across both firms, according to Jason Storah, UK and Ireland general insurance chief executive at Aviva.

Aviva first confirmed that it was buying Probitas – including tenancy rights to Syndicate 1492 – back in March 2024, signposting the insurer’s first foray into the Lloyd’s market.

The acquisition formally completed in July 2024 for £249m, with Probitas chief executive Ash Bathia officially joining Aviva’s staff.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Storah admitted that the insurer was “more excited” now about the acquisition prospects compared to when both parties first inked the deal.

He said: “We’re more excited about it now than we were when we did the deal in terms of the fantastic strategic fit, the amazing capability and experience that the entire team at Probitas [has], that really focused expertise, the lines of business, the segments that [it writes], the complimentary nature of that business for us with [our global, corporate and specialty arm] works really, really well.

“[The business has] an impressive track record and Lloyd’s [has given Probitas] one of the highest ratings in terms of performance relative to [its] peers.”

Although Storah noted that there are “lots of components to the integration that we’re working through”, he highlighted that “one of the priorities” for the companies was the creation of a “dual stamp authority” because “that’s where we really see the accretive growth opportunities for both Aviva and Probitas going forward”.

Lloyd’s stamp capacity is the maximum amount of business a syndicate is authorised to write in a given year. A dual stamp approach, therefore, enables two parties to come together and match their capacity on a per risk basis.

Storah is currently tight-lipped about what this model will look like, however – Aviva plans to discuss its strategy for Probitas in more detail upon the publication of the insurer’s full-year financial results next year.

“I would say that certainly by the time we get to our full-year results, we will be talking more about Probitas and some of those early wins that we’re currently working through,” Storah said.

‘More to come’

Storah spoke to Insurance Times following the publication of Aviva’s 2024 half-year financial results on 14 August 2024, which recorded growth in all segments of the insurer’s UKGI portfolio.

This included an overall 25% uptick in UK and Ireland GI operating profit for the first six months of the year, from £230m in H1 2023 to £287m this year.

Aviva’s UK and Ireland GI arm further recorded a 19% increase in gross written premiums (GWP), which contributed to an undiscounted combined operating ratio (COR) of 92.8%.

Storah’s part of the business additionally reported year-on-year personal lines growth of 30%, commercial lines growth of 10% and a 6.5% year-on-year uplift for Aviva’s global, corporate and specialty (GCS) arm, which is also now handling £800m of premiums.

Although growth is clearly on the agenda at Aviva, Storah declined to comment on the insurer’s M&A strategy. He did, however, promise that the insurance market could expect “more to come” in terms of Aviva’s growth trajectory.

He said: “I’m not going to comment on any specific things that we might be thinking about or looking at [in terms of M&A], but hopefully we’ve demonstrated that we’ve got a very clear organic growth plan and an inorganic plan and we can deliver on both. So, more to come.”