Canopius eyes former clients

Canopius is looking to re-engage with some of the former clients in the Japanese market it had prior to ownership by Sompo, chairman Michael Watson, and Asia-Pacific and MENA chief executive officer Mark Newman, told SIRC Today.

“Because of that ownership we had to relinquish much of our business, and it’s a market we know well and value,” said Newman.

Specialty re/insurer Canopius has been sold by Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance to a private equity consortium led by Centerbridge, a deal that was announced in September 2017 and completed earlier this year.

Prior to ownership by Sompo, Watson explained, Canopius provided capacity to the three big Japanese companies, Tokio Marine, Mitsui Sumitomo and Sompo itself. However, once owned by Sompo, he suggested, Mitsui Sumitomo and Tokio did not want to deal with a Sompo subsidiary, which resulted in the company losing books of business.

“We were obliged to be out of the Japanese marketplace. Now being independent of Sompo once again, not only can we hope to re-establish a trading relationship, but there’s no reason we can’t establish a relationship with anyone,” said Watson.

He suggested that relationships in Japan tend to be predominantly treaty reinsurance, and that Canopius would be swimming against the tide by developing its facultative specialities there.

“Over the last five years, we have seen more regional business placed within the region. This includes Japan,” said Newman.

“We are location-neutral on where we see the business, and we will work as one global team in our underwriting approach.”

Canopius has been reinforcing its presence in the region through a series of hires of Asia-Pacific expertise such as Yann Marmonier as head of insurance Asia Pacific & MENA, and Nattakorn Wattanaumphaipong as head of reinsurance Asia-Pacific.

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