07 Jun 2005 – The wave of support for electronic platform Kinnect in the Lloyd’s and London market continues with the announcement today that St Paul Travelers is backing the enterprise.
The managing agent has pledged its support for the platform which securely exchanges risk data and wordings between brokers and underwriters. They will sign contracts shortly.
This brings the total number of businesses backing the platform up to 19 — including eight of Lloyd’s ten largest managing agents. The underwriters supporting the platform now represent more than 60 per cent of capacity at Lloyd’s.
Earlier this month, Kinnect announced that QBE European Operations — including Lloyd’s largest managing agent Limit and its company market operations — and managing agent Cathedral were backing the platform, with Chaucer also committing its support.
Kinnect Chief Executive Toby Davies said: “Kinnect has become the platform of choice for the market. We are delighted with the wealth of support it is getting. Our customer base has more than doubled this year alone, and as we continue to develop this level of market support is crucial.”
Barnabas Hurst-Bannister, Executive Director and Chairman, St. Paul Travelers Syndicate Management Ltd, said: “Kinnect is helping to ensure that the future of the insurance industry is secure, efficient and reliable. We confidently expect it will bring a wealth of benefits to our business in terms of speed, cost-savings and improved customer service so we are delighted to be getting on board.”
St Paul Travelers joins brokers Marsh, Willis and Guy Carpenter, and underwriters ACE European Group, AEGIS, Amlin, Ascot, Beazley, Cathedral, Catlin, Chaucer, Hiscox, Liberty Syndicates, Markel, QBE European Operations, SVB, Talbot, and Wellington.
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Kinnect is a Lloyd’s sponsored business that facilitates the electronic capture and transfer of risk data between brokers and underwriters to lock down contractual terms including risk disclosures. Recording transactions properly aids regulatory compliance, improves the speed and efficiency of settlement and claims, reduces legal disputes, and therefore improves contract certainty.
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Volume figures released earlier this month showed that in the 12 months between May 2004 – when brokers Marsh and Willis began putting their North American Property risks across Kinnect daily — and April 2005 the platform handled more than 500 risks in that one class, representing over 1,300 signed lines and $800 million in premiums.
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Lloyd’s ten largest Lloyd’s managing agents, ranked by capacity and starting with the biggest, are: Limit, Chaucer, Amlin, Hiscox, Beazley, Wellington, Liberty, Kiln, BRIT, and Catlin. (Source: Lloyd’s Member Services Unit, January 2005)
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Kinnect is currently user-governed with the intention of becoming user-owned in the longer term.
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St. Paul Travelers Syndicate Management Limited is part of The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc which was formed by the merger of The St. Paul Companies and Travelers Property Casualty Corp in 2004.
The group traces its origins back to 1853 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.
The group has worldwide revenues of around $23 billion and assets worth around $112 billion. It achieves consistently high credit ratings for financial strength and ability to pay claims including a Standard & Poor’s ‘A+ (Strong)’ rating and an ‘A (Excellent)’ rating from A M Best.
St. Paul Travelers Syndicate Management Limited writes non-life business through corporate Syndicate 5000. It specialises in commercial insurance in the following lines of business: Aviation, Marine, Global Property and Accident & Special Risks.
Syndicate 5000’s underwriting capacity for 2005 is £240 million.
Tags: Kinnect, Lloyd's