After just two months of operation, new general insurer Calliden Group has booked gross written premium of $1.8 million for the first half of this year. And despite a target of $60 million in its first 12 months, the insurer remains upbeat.

Calliden CEO Nick Kirk expects the company to break even late next year. And while it’s very difficult to draw any firm conclusions from two operating months, he says two factors have emerged “that mean it’s taking us longer than expected to get business onto the books”.

One is the large number of inquiries the insurer’s rigorous underwriting processes demand. “It’s taken longer to select the right opportunities,” he said.

Factor No 2 is the fact that the market is getting more competitive, with the bigger players showing an increased appetite for risk.

“While we believe our target market remains profitable as it’s somewhat insulated from the areas of fiercest competition, we’ll watch developments very keenly,” Mr Kirk said. “We won’t underwrite risks at what we believe will be unsustainable terms in the longer run.  If that means it takes a little longer to achieve our revenue targets, then so be it.”