Asta sells Munich Re-backed MGA Pelican to Manchester Underwriting

Lloyd's third-party managing agent Asta has completed the sale of its managing general agent (MGA) Pelican Underwriting One, which trades as Pelican Underwriting, to specialist MGA Manchester Underwriting Management (MUM).

Pelican specialises in writing solicitors’ professional indemnity in England and Wales. It was launched in 2015 in partnership with Munich Re Group as its capacity provider. It has been managed and also received financial backing from Asta Capital since its start.

MUM expanded into property owners, casualty and cyber during 2017 and shares Pelican’s close relationship with Munich Re, whose subsidiary Great Lakes Insurance will continue to support Pelican with capacity, according to a statement.

Julian Tighe, chief executive of Asta said: “We are pleased that the sale of Pelican Underwriting to MUM has completed. This is our first sale of an MGA since we started our MGA management business in 2015 and demonstrates Asta’s ability to develop start up underwriting entities across the insurance spectrum and see them through the lifecycle to the next phase of their business life. We wish Pelican every success and are confident it will continue to grow under MUM’s ownership.”

Jay Bowey, director of Pelican Underwriting, said: “Whilst it is business as usual at Pelican Underwriting, I am hugely excited to be joining the MUM team and am thoroughly looking forward to working in an environment where Pelican can grow and continue to focus on offering the specialist services our clients need.”

Charles Manchester, CEO of MUM, commented: “Solicitors’ professional indemnity (PI) is a challenging area and, in my opinion, there is nobody better at it than Pelican Underwriting. We already have a major position in the UK and international PI market and Pelican will be accretive to that, fitting perfectly into the group as MUM, too, focuses on top quality service and underwriting.”

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