Canopius Group Ltd., a global specialty reinsurance company based in the U.K., will expand its U.S. operations nearly a year after getting snatched up by a Japanese casualty insurance giant.
Canopius said it plans to launch Canopius Underwriting Agency, Inc.
CUAI will be based in New York, and underwrite domestic facultative property reinsurance business on behalf of Canopius Syndicates 4444 and 958, according to the announcement. It will operate as part of Canopius’ Global Property business unit.
Why launch CUAI? The goal is to give the company a broader U.S. footprint and product range. As well, Canopius is hiring James McAloon, Timothy Houck and Daisy Ng (formerly with Citation Re LLC) to begin underwriting for CUAI in September. Additionally, CUAI is set to provide run off underwriting services for Citation Re, the company said.
Jim Giordano, Chairman of Canopius U.S. Holdings, said in a statement that the new U.S. initiative “is a significant expansion for Canopius as it increases product line and distribution versatility for the group.”
Last December, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., a unit of SJNK Holdings (known as NKSJ Group until a formal name change announced in early September 2014) snatched up Canopius for $963 million in a bid to expand beyond its home market. SJNK is Japan’s third largest casualty insurer group by market value, Bloomberg reported at the time of the sale.
Canopius Group now bills itself as “the global specialty reinsurance platform of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings,” referring to the full name of SJNK Holdings.