Fidelis won’t shift out of high gear in ’24; property D&F in focus
Fidelis is enjoying continued momentum in terms and rates across its key business lines and will prioritise growth in 2024, with a special focus on property direct and facultative, top leaders have claimed.
“We see positive movement in all lines of business,” CEO Dan Burrows told his company’s fourth quarter earnings call. “We expect sustainable mature hard market conditions to persist” across the group’s business lines, he said.
“Our primary focus is investing back in the business,” CFO Allan Decleir added.
Specialty lines, chiefly property direct and facultative, aviation and marine and accounting for some 62% of the group’s premium, has yet to show signs of easing up. “The attractive pricing we saw in 2023 has carried over into the start of 24 and we are positioned to take advantage of opportunities in the market,” Burrows said.
“Based on Q1 transactions to date, we expect growth in 2024 to be broadly in line with what we saw last year,” he said. “We continue to see attractive opportunities in these lines.”
Property D&F may take the bulk of the Fidelis focus. Burrows claims that positive rate momentum continues into 2024 and premium gains are accompanied by continued improvements in terms, conditions and coverage.
Fidelis should be able to capture stronger terms than rivals in the segment given the market’s vertical nature where Fidelis can act as price-maker, not price-taker, as Burrows calls it. “We see the better terms,” Burrows said.
In Fidelis’ bespoke segment, returns look strong but deal flow remains somewhat unpredictable. Burrow’s encouragement for equity investors at the Q4 call: the first two months of the year show the deal pipeline tracking even with the prior year on a “good mix” of deals in structured credit and political risk.
The reinsurance segment is enjoying “increased demand” with cedants stepping up for more limit in both the US and Europe. Fidelis claimed a “strong” set of 1.1 renewals for a $276 million book, up from $230 million the year prior.
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