The American Club recently made market presentations to its Members, brokers and other friends and supporters in London and Athens. Its gathering in London on December 3 was hosted at Trinity House, while its reception in Athens on December 5 took place at the Yacht Club of Greece in Piraeus.
The presentations focused on up-to-date information concerning the Club’s mutual and fixed premium business. They also included a report on recent developments at American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company, Ltd., a Cyprus-based subsidiary of the Club and a hull and war risks underwriter with a growing portfolio of high-quality international clients.
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Those present at both events heard how the Club’s recent decisions in regard to supplementary calls were aimed at balance sheet strengthening and the normalization of key financial indicators. For the 2020 renewal, although no standardized, or general, increase was being sought by the Club, its Board expected to see a year-on-year increase in the pricing of risk for 2020 of a magnitude reflecting future exposure. This policy aims to embrace not only the need for cash rises but also, as individual cases might dictate, changes in deductibles and/or other terms of entry.
Eagle Ocean Marine, the American Club’s fixed premium product aimed at the operators of smaller vessels in local and regional trades, continued to exhibit growth and respectable profitability.
In explaining the background to recent developments at American Hull Insurance Company, Ltd., its CEO, Mr. Ilias Tsakiris, pointed to the steady development of its business plan which continued to see an expanding client base and rising premium rates.
As the market is more difficult over the last twelve months, it has given further impetus to American Hellenic Hull’s financial development and growing profitability during the second half of the year.
In addition to Mr. Tsakiris, Mr. Vince Solarino, President and Chief Operating Officer of SCB, Inc., the Managers of the American Club, and Ms. Dorothea Ioannou, SCB’s Chief Commercial Officer, also described recent operational changes which took place within the Managers’ offices across the world. More specifically, they referred to the increase of the Managers’ capabilities through the reorganization of their existing resources, the recruitment of new professional talent, both at headquarters and overseas, and other initiatives to ensure further success over the years ahead.
In reviewing trends affecting not only P&I but the market at large, Mr. Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO of SCB, Inc., said that the “great claims moderation of recent years” had ended. Premium erosion continued to challenge operating results while the solid investment returns for 2019 would be challenged by a cloudy outlook for 2020.
Mr. Hughes continued:
An urgent need has arisen for the proper calibration of risk pricing to exposure. With the landscape at Lloyd’s and elsewhere undergoing transformational change, it appears that the marine insurance sector has reached a secular inflection point. Indeed, the market upheavals of the last twelve months have left much of the industry in a state of flux. But, however this might be characterized, there can be no doubt that recent turmoil foreshadows extraordinary potential for the future