’The excellent conditions in the property market persisted into the second quarter,’ says chief executive

Beazley increased its gross written premium (GWP) by 13% in H1 2023 following growth in several of its risk divisions.

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In a statement released today (27 July 2023), the insurer said it secured to $2.89bn (£2.28bn) in GWP in the six months to 30 June 2023, up from $2.55bn (£2.01bn) in the same period during 2022.

Net premiums also rose 28% from $1.8bn (£1.41bn) in H1 2022 to $2.29bn (£1.80bn) this year.

Adrian Cox, chief executive of Beazley, said: “The excellent conditions in the property market persisted into the second quarter and we continued to take advantage of those, delivering a strong performance on growth for the group in the first half of 2023.

”With premium written in line with our expectations, we are confident of delivering our growth guidance for the year.”

Property and Cyber

This came as Beazley increased GWP in cyber risks to $539.7m (£416.2m) this year – equating to a 14% increase from 2022.

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This was despite a 3% reduction in rates.

Explaining the increase in GWP, the insurer said that while the market remained competitive, ”the headwinds experienced in the first half of the year relating to war wordings are beginning to recede”. 

”We are confident in the long-term growth prospects for cyber, particularly in Europe, which provides a significant opportunity,” it added.

Meanwhile, the insurer said GWP in its property risks division grew 66% year-on-year after increasing rates by 22%.

It said the hardening of the reinsurance market “has driven rate increases in the primary market more quickly than anticipated”.

“We continue to take advantage of the conditions in the property market, with property reinsurance growing as expected and property insurance slightly better than planned for,” the insurer added.

Other divisions

Meanwhile, MAP risks, which refers to the insurer’s marine, aviation, political, accident and contingency portfolio, saw GWP reduce by 5% to $517.4m (£407.4m) year-on-year.

This was due to the portfolio underwriting business now being written by Syndicate 5623, which is backed predominantly by third capital.

Beazley stated this reduced year-on-year GWP growth in the division, whereas net premium growth was not materially affected.

Considering speciality risks, Beazley highlighted that “very challenging conditions continue in directors and officers (D&O)”.

Speciality risks GWP dropped by 1% to $935m (£736.2m) for the first six months of the year – down from $945.9m (£744.8m) in 2022.

Digital also reduced in GWP by 1% to $110.4m (£86.92m) in the same period. Last year, Beazley achieved $111.1m (£87.5m) GWP in digital risks.

  • Insurance Times has converted dollar amounts into pounds using an exchange rate of $1.27 = £1, which was correct as of 1 July 2023.

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