Ki announces new capacity deal after Brit separation

Algorithmic digital-follow underwriter Ki has announced insurer QBE as a capacity partner on its platform.

The capacity, which will be available from 3 February 2025, will be available for 11 open market classes of business.

This includes cargo, contingency, cyber, D&O, energy midstream, energy upstream, FI, Hull, US PI, property NA and property WW.

Mark Allan, chief executive at Ki, said: “We are proud to launch our partnership with QBE by adding their capacity to the Ki platform.

“QBE is a highly respected business in the specialty insurance market, with significant scale across the London, US and international markets.

“Its enthusiasm to partner with Ki reinforces our shared vision regarding the importance of seamless digital trading for the future of the specialty insurance marketplace.”

Broker benefits

This comes after Ki separated from Brit to become a standalone company within the Fairfax Group.

The move, which was effective from 1 January 2025, comes as Ki looks to focus on expanding support for partner brokers and accelerating the development of its algorithmic underwriting capabilities.

The launch of new QBE capacity will coincide with Ki growing its overall open market follow capacity with its current partners.

“Together, these enhancements mean brokers will be able to access larger line sizes across more classes of business from five Lloyd’s syndicates on the Ki platform,” Ki added.

Jason Harris, chief executive at QBE International, said: “As the insurance market continues to evolve, we are pleased to be partnering with Ki and its digital offering.

“Digital follow is driving positive outcomes for the market, brokers and insureds by providing faster access to high quality capacity and more certainty of placement and complements traditional underwriting.

“We anticipate significant growth taking place over the next decade in this space and, as a market leader, look forward to collaborating with Ki to drive increased digitisation and efficiency throughout the entire risk journey.”