Camargue & Hollard part ways

Camargue Management to purchase Hollards equity stake in the business.

Camargue Underwriting Managers have today (Monday, June 19, 2006) announced that a mutual agreement has been reached with Hollard Insurance for the management of Camargue to purchase Hollards equity stake in the company.

Hollard, currently South Africas leading independent insurer, has been involved as shareholder and risk carrier with Camargue since its launch just over five-years ago and is proud to have had Camargue as part of its over 100-strong long-term mutually beneficial partner family.

Camargue simultaneously announced that it has been granted approved coverholder status at Lloyds of London. These developments mean that as a specialist financial lines insurance underwriting manager, Camargue can now place business into the Lloyds market and also extend its product offering to include the full range of financial lines products.

According to Camargue Managing Director Mitch Marescia, the external forces changing and shaping the market have led to the companys decision to expand its existing offerings and has necessitated that Camargue draw on global players in the liability market in order to offer the new lines of cover.

We are reshaping and changing our operation to meet market demands. The nature and size of the lines of business we want to be in has lead us to partner with the leading international society of underwriters, Lloyds of London, says Marescia. Accordingly, our financial lines bouquet will now be complete.

Marescia adds: Lloyds offers unrivalled security and technical expertise and these are now available for the benefit of our clients. Its total assets exceed ₤35-billion and the three major rating agencies, namely AM Best, Fitch and Standard & Poors, have each given a rating of at least A strong during the past 12-months.

We have developed a close relationship with Brit Insurance, one of the UKs largest insurers, who has provided reinsurance support for the policies we have issued in the name of the Hollard Insurance Company. Effective 1 July 2006 its business as usual with Camargue through Lloyds when we start placing risks and issuing policies in the name of Brit Syndicate No. 2987 at Lloyds.

Camargue recognises the importance of supporting the local market, and according to Marescia, will soon announce a South African-based insurer to participate in their programme.

The Hollard approach has always been to specifically seek out entrepreneurial groups and individuals with highly specialised skills in various niches to help establish them in their own businesses, retaining a significant interest and a close management and/or underwriting role.

This is how it all began when Hollard gave birth to Camargue in 2000.

Says Hollard spokesperson Stef Theofanidis: Hollard believes diversification created by having many specialised partners reduces overall risk exposures by facilitating fast, effective and appropriate reactions to market impulses. This allows Hollard to simultaneously focus on multiple niches, while the partners focus on becoming leaders in their markets. We have enjoyed enormous success with this approach and the relationship with Camargue has been no different. When we helped launch Camargue we clearly saw the dynamic people we were dealing with. It was an owner-managed insurance business, with highly skilled underwriters, high growth potential, offering tailor-made solutions and superior service, while retaining cost effectiveness and offering competitive premiums. Camargue had everything we look for in a partner.

With that said the lifecycle of the Camargue business has reached a critical point and as a fully-fledged South African underwriting manager, is now able to stand on its own. While this partner exodus changes the current status of our relationship with Camargue, its not to say that Hollard would not still pursue opportunities that this segment of the insurance market offers, says Theofanidis.
Camargue has several local and international alliances that strengthen its standing in the industry, including Brit Insurance Holdings Plc, Hannover Re, Africa Re, Guardian Employers Organisation, Labour Wise, Tokiso, Integrated Retirement Solutions, Corporate Governance Accreditation, among others, and it will retain these strategic relationships moving forward.

When we launched we christened ourselves Camargue, after the special breed of horse that survives the inhospitable Camargue wetlands in southern France. These horses evoke the qualities that we as entrepreneurs aimed to embody fierce independence and courage in the face of adversity, perseverance, enduring determination, and sure-footedness in the midst of harsh realities. We believe that because we have lived these traits we have succeeded and grown beyond our wildest expectations and this has brought us to the new journey we are about to begin, concludes Marescia.

A road-show will be undertaken by Camargue in August to introduce brokers to the new products, and to reveal the underwriters new strategy. Camargues commitment to managing client risks, rather than just insuring them, continues; a principle fully supported by Brit.