The Standard Syndicate (Lloyd’s syndicate 1884) has experienced difficult trading conditions, with deteriorating results on both the 2015 and 2016 years of account, Standard Club has said. The deterioration was largely a result of hull, cargo and directors’ & officers’ (D&O) claims.
Standard Club said in its post-board bulletin, recording the meeting in Amsterdam on January 31st, that the syndicate was “focused on improving its performance through a number of short-term and longer-term actions”.
The Club said that, at an operational level, 2016 was “a year of solid progress” and that the syndicate had continued to enjoy the support from club members. It increased its capacity and expanded the number of insurance covers provided. However, trading conditions remained challenging. Standard said that “it is hoped that by focusing on writing high-quality, profitable risks, the syndicate will be able to strengthen its foundation and achieve its targets.
For the club as a whole, CEO Jeremy Grose said that the board was advised at the Amsterdam meeting that conditions for investments remained challenging, “with substantial volatility across many asset classes and currencies, and an uncertain macroeconomic outlook continuing into 2017 and beyond”. Because of this, Standard Club has positioned its portfolio defensively. Grose said that, despite the challenging investment conditions, the club had generated a positive return for the period February 20th 2016 to February 20th 2017.
The board also took a detailed look at the implications of the UK’s eventual departure from the Economic Union, also known as Brexit. Grose said that, with it looking increasingly likely that the UK was heading towards a “hard” Brexit, the club was considering all possible options in order to ensure that service continues “with little or no interruption to operations”.
Standard Club’s next board meeting will be on May 12th in Rome. http://www.standard-club.com/media/2533577/post-board-bulletin-march-2017.pdf