Australian underwriting agency Agile has been given the go-ahead to establish its own Lloyd’s syndicate, insuranceNEWS.com.au understands.
 
Agile is already a Lloyd’s coverholder but the move could turbo-charge its growth and provide more capacity to Australian brokers as hard market conditions continue.
 
Executives from Agile are in London and are understood to have been given in-principle approval by Lloyd’s to launch the syndicate in April, through its “syndicate in a box” scheme.
 
Asta will be the managing agency for the syndicate and the active underwriter will be former Zurich Australia head of deal and broker management Mark Hunt.
 
Agile was formed in 2015 and is led by CEO Robin Barham, who has more than three decades’ experience working with various Lloyd’s syndicates in London and Australia.
 
The agency, which has 40 staff across Australia, operates only through brokers and provides financial lines, cyber, aviation, construction and accident and health, among other lines. It also offers insurtech solutions.
 
Lloyd’s says its syndicate in a box model gives “smaller, entrepreneurial” operations the opportunity to “establish an underwriting platform in Lloyd’s at a smaller scale and lower cost base”.
 
More details in our main bulletin on Monday.