New websites for Ascot and Ascot Renewco

We have launched our new website, bigger, bolder, and brighter than before. Our new site reflects the growth and development we have undergone over the past three years. New features include Ascot Facts, Ascot Thinking, and pages for our new operations: Ascot Renewco, Ascot Asia, Ascot Houston, and Ascot Spain.

We have also launched our new website for Ascot Renewco at www.ascotrenewco.com.

Please take a tour around our websites and let us know what you think.

Glocalisation - thinking globally acting locally

2007 saw significant expansion of Ascot’s global reach. We have opened offices in Singapore, Houston, and Spain in an effort to best serve our customers and continue to grow our business. Key to the success of this expansion is to work on even more levels with our broking partners to create mutually beneficial opportunities in new markets. Click here to read more about the philosophy behind our expansion and how we hope it will bring mutual benefits to our clients and partners worldwide.

Ascot Asia: one year on

Few can resist the lure of the bright lights and booming business in Singapore. When we opened our Ascot Asia office in January 2007 we had high hopes for the opportunities in the region, and we have not been disappointed. As the market grows at an exponential rate, we have discovered that the dynamic, entrepreneurial environment in Singapore is a great fit for us.

One year, two Chinese New Years, and over 640 submissions later we are feeling well and truly settled in. Our team has now grown to six: Chief Underwriter and Principal Officer Alex Lumby, Energy Underwriter Min Ong, Marine and Cargo Underwriter Arran Wooler, Property Underwriter Jason Keen, Underwriting Assistant Janet Stacey, and Underwriting Administrator April Porteous.

Singapore is a great platform into Asia. We think that the best way to understand our clients’ business is by seeing their environments and risks first-hand. As such Ascot’s team has travelled extensively throughout the Asia Pacific region and the benefits of this travel have been clearly seen in the number of accounts we have been offered.

Now that we have been up and running for a year, Alex Lumby is returning to London to take up the role of Chief Executive of Ascot Renewco, our renewable energy division. In April he is handing over the baton to Lee Vanderson, who will already be well-known to many of our clients in Asia through his previous role of Senior Underwriter for Ascot’s cargo business. In fact, Lee wrote Ascot Asia’s first risk.

We know that as Chief Underwriter and Principal Officer Lee will continue to push Ascot Asia onwards an upwards.

Click here for more information about Ascot Asia or to contact a member of the team directly.

Insurance Times
Terrorism Question Time

We consider ourselves experts in Terrorism and Political Risk cover. So when the Insurance Times asked us to sponsor their Terrorism Question Time at the end of January, we jumped at the opportunity to be involved in a lively debate about the key issues facing the market and our customers.

The 4-member panel represented a cross-section of organisations involved in assessing and defining risk: David James, Senior Terrorism and Political Risk Underwriter for Ascot; Kirsten Parker, Director of Analysis for Exclusive Analysis; Andrew Coburn, Vice President of Catastrophe Research and Director of Terrorism Research for Risk Management Solutions; and David Chadwick, Partner at Mayer Brown International.

The 100-strong audience came from a variety of backgrounds, including brokers, underwriters, risk managers, solicitors and consultants. The event was a great success and at the end of the hour and a half long session the panel had covered a lot of ground. Some of the key issues raised included:

• Risks and opportunities in the UK
• Flexibility of the London market
• Perceived gaps in cover, such as NCBR,and the solutions in the market to address these concerns
• The relative values of risk modelling vs. perception of risk

Click here to read the Insurance Times feature on the debate.

New: Accident and Health

Ascot has recently ventured into the Accident & Health class, underwriting a worldwide portfolio of Accident & Health insurance and reinsurance. Offering a range of products from Group Personal Accident to Evacuation and Repatriation, we can also offer tailored solutions in the niche markets to meet client’s specific requirements.

For more information contact Ascot's A&H underwriter William Waddell-Dudley, based in Ascot's box at Lloyd's or via email at william.waddelldudley@ascotuw.com.

New Appointments for Ascot Asia, Ascot Renewco, and Cargo teams

We have made some changes to the leadership of some of our Ascot Renewco, Ascot Asia, and Cargo teams:

Alex Lumby

Alex Lumby, Chief Underwriter and Principal Officer of Ascot Asia, is returning to London to lead Ascot Renewco, assuming the role of Chief Executive of Ascot Renewco. Alex has been with Ascot Asia for the past year, building our Asian business and establishing Ascot as a leader in the region.

Lee Vanderson

Lee Vanderson, leader of our global Cargo business, has been appointed Chief Underwriter and Principal Officer of Ascot Asia Pte Ltd., subject to approval from Lloyd’s and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Lee has been with Ascot since 2001 and has worked extensively with our Cargo clients in Asia.

David Roe

David Roe will join Ascot next month as Senior Underwriter for Cargo. David has 23 years of experience broking Cargo accounts. Most recently he was responsible for the Global Cargo Product Line at Marsh, embracing growth, retention and marketing disciplines.

Martin Reith

Martin Reith, Chief Executive of Ascot Underwriting said, “I am delighted to announce the appointments of Alex, Lee and David. The quality of our senior management stands us in excellent stead as Ascot matures, and in particular for our new initiatives, whose first stages have been very encouraging.”

David Wright resigned as Chief Executive of Ascot Renewco at the end of January. Alex, Lee and David will assume their new roles in April.

Coming of age in a
shifting marketplace

We at Ascot have never been shy to do what we believe is the right thing, and if eyebrows are raised along the way, so be it. Our growth from start up at the end of 2001 to a premium income capacity of £625 million in 2007 was the fastest in Lloyd’s history, and was based on a firm belief in the talents of our Underwriters, in our business strategy and in the opportunities open to us in the market as it stood. However, the level of opportunities we perceive in the current market paints a somewhat different picture going forward. Click here to read more about our decision to reduce our capacity and the rationale behind our decision.

Our favourite art

We take pride in supporting the work of young artists. In particular, we feel a strong connection with Rob and Nick Carter’s bold and vibrant art, which is found throughout our City of London office. We hope their work reflects the dynamic and tangible energy of our company.

All of us at Ascot are proud to sponsor Rob Carter’s new book, a collection of his Travelling Stills, some of which are featured in our reception at Plantation Place. Rob describes his Travelling Still works as being about creating the feeling of movement within a still image and trying to represent the experience of travelling itself. The photographs stretch the ‘moment’ both literally—in that the camera shutter is held open—and visually, as the details of the subject blur out horizontally.

In conjunction with the launch of his book, Rob is holding an exhibition of his Travelling Stills at The Gallery in Cork Street from 4-20 April. Go to The Gallery website for more information about the exhibition.

Ascot’s Cargo team – moving expertise around the world

At first glance cargo can seem pretty straightforward: moving goods from one place to another by sea, air or land. But the range of risk factors in each transit makes cargo a varied and complex business.

One of our team’s favourite aspects of cargo is its variety; in the space of an hour they can see 10 brokers with 10 very different risks. And the range of skills on our team means that no matter the risk, we have someone at the Box who can give it an expert evaluation.

Ascot’s cargo team manages one of the largest books in the Lloyd’s market. The scope of our book reflects the varied nature of the class:

• We are the largest insurer of crude oil in Lloyd’s
• We insure clients from over 110 countries around the world
• We bring F1 TV footage to the world by insuring their broadcasting equipment
• We insure the UN food transits to areas of famine or natural disaster

Our team is made up of four very different personalities: Senior Underwriter Lee Vanderson, Underwriter Claire Worthington, Assistant Underwriter Gavin Wall, and Underwriting Assistant Chris McGill. Each brings their own approach to writing cargo business: Lee is a self-described trader, Claire is the team’s technical expert, Gavin is a mix of both, and Chris keeps the team running like a well-oiled machine. Together they have combined more than 30 years experience with cargo.

After many years of working with our clients in Asia, Lee has decided to take his cargo expertise straight to the source and has accepted the role of Chief Underwriter and Principal Officer for Ascot Asia. He will be with us in London for one more month until he moves to Singapore at the beginning of April.

Lee will be leaving our cargo business in good hands, though. David Roe, formerly responsible for the Global Cargo Product Line at Marsh, is joining Ascot in April as Senior Underwriter for Cargo. David has 23 years of experience broking Cargo accounts, which he will use to build on Lee’s work to ensure that Ascot remains at the forefront of the Cargo market in Lloyd’s.

Please visit our team in Lloyd’s at Box 92 or click here to contact one of our team directly.