SiriusPoint CEO praises 'great start' yet profit dips by almost half in Q2

SiriusPoint, the company launched in February this year with over $3 billion in capital through the merger of Bermuda-based specialty reinsurer Third Point Re and multi-line re/insurer  Sirius Group, saw its quarterly profit decline to almost half compared to last year, but its chief executive Sid Sankaran (pictured) insisted that the company is "off to a great start" having established a strong business momentum in just a few months of operations.

The Bermuda-based re/insurer generated a net profit of $64.5 million in the second quarter of 2021, down 48 percent from $124 million in the same period the last year. However, for the first half of the year, its net profit rose to $195.4 million, compared to the net loss of $59.6 million seen in H1 2020.

SiriusPoint’s combined ratio improved to 92.8 percent for Q2 and 94.2 percent for H1 2021, compared with 99.8 percent in Q2 and 99.2 percent in H1 2020.

Overall, its net earned premiums increased significantly to $466.3 million in Q2 and $722.3 million in H1 2021. Last year, the company reported net earned premiums of $140.8 million in Q2 and $287.1 million in H1.

Sankaran, chairman and CEO of the company, said: "I am very pleased with our team's execution through SiriusPoint's first full quarter. Underwriting this quarter has been keenly focused on remediation. We have made progress on re-balancing the portfolio between reinsurance and insurance to stabilize our book, manage volatility and deliver underwriting profit, over time."

He added: "We are off to a great start and have established strong momentum that is reflected in the number of deals closed in our first four months of operations. We have attracted experienced and innovative partners and launched businesses including insurtech Joyn Insurance, with Seraina Macia, Banyan Risk, with Tim Usher-Jones, and Hestia Capital with Jean Francois Bahier  and Peter Norris. Our existing partnerships with MGUs including Pie, and Arcadian Risk led by industry veteran John Boylan, also continue to add value and offer long term opportunity."

Sankaran highlighted that SiriusPoint is building a sustainable long-term franchise with a focus on book value creation. "Our approach to capital allocation and our ability to be nimble has allowed us to take advantage of current market conditions, but our strategy does not rely on a hard market," he said.

"We are building a company with a strong entrepreneurial culture under the premise that soft markets are the norm, while planning around long term macro trends that require disciplined investments and a growth mindset."

Commenting in its $417 million loss portfolio transfer deal with Compre, Sankaran said: "Our transaction with Compre underscores the ongoing transformation of SiriusPoint, our focus on optimizing capital allocation and rebalancing towards insurance and higher margin and growth lines, and provides further clarity on SiriusPoint's reserve position.

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