View from the top: Sarah Stanford, Aspen Insurance

Sarah Stanford was appointed as active underwriter of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.’s Syndicate 4711 in May 2019. Based in London, Ms. Stanford joined Aspen in 2007 as a member of the insurer’s newly formed financial lines team. She recently spoke with Business Insurance reporter Matthew Lerner about the syndicate’s near doubling in size as Aspen realigns its business, current market conditions and opportunities for growth. Edited excerpts follow.  

Q: Is the syndicate’s expansion existing business, or new?

A: The syndicate has been on a journey of transformation over the last three years to optimize and reposition our portfolio. 2022 is really an opportunity to look forward. We’ve exited lines of businesses that were not performing, or not aligned to our strategy. Our Lloyd’s syndicate is the platform of choice for our London market business and our European insurance business. As a result, we’ve de-emphasized our insurance company platform in the United Kingdom and transferred a significant portion of our business to Lloyd’s during 2021, increasing our plan premium to £815 million ($1.1 billion) for 2022, from £425 million at the beginning of 2021. Growing our presence in Lloyd’s is a critical part of our overall balance sheet simplification strategy.

Q: How has the business mix of policyholders changed? What lines did Aspen exit and what grew?

A: Between 2018 and late 2019 we exited seven classes of business on the Lloyd’s platform, including accident and health care — which really doesn’t feed into the specialized insurance, reinsurance strategy — and some marine and energy lines. New business growth has been focused on specific areas, like our crisis management class of business, and credit and political risk class of business, for example, as well as some casualty lines and our financial professional lines.

Q: Is the syndicate involved with U.S. business as well as U.K. and European?

A: Approximately 25% of the business written for the syndicate is U.S.-domiciled business. Our excess casualty is written out of London but is predominantly U.S. business. From a Lloyd’s perspective, the U.S. has been a really important market. Lloyd’s is also the largest surplus lines insurer in the U.S., and by writing through Lloyd’s on a surplus lines basis the syndicate is approved to write in the U.S.

Q: Do you see growth coming from Europe or the U.S., or perhaps an emerging market?

A: Growth will be a mixture of U.S. and international, and some examples of that would be Australia, Canada and Europe. An example is U.S.-domiciled financial lines business that’s historically been placed in the London market. That team has forged long-term relationships with both brokers and clients. We’ve certainly seen an increased U.S. demand for our active assailant product, which insures against mass shootings and other violent acts. 

Q: Our reporting has shown several quarters of insurance premium rate increases across most lines, but most recently the rates of increase appear to have slowed. What do you see on the pricing landscape?

A: We continue to see favorable market conditions in a majority of our classes of business, but the momentum is slowing. We expect it to continue for a little while longer, perhaps not quite at the same pace, though, as in recent years. I think such increases are only sustainable for a certain period of time. I’d add, however, that what we’ve seen in recent years is not just rate but also a correctional tightening in terms and conditions that were expanded when the market was experiencing tougher conditions.

Q: How has the pandemic impacted business? How have the past two years been different?

A: COVID was one of those events that none of us were expecting, and we’re continuing to see the effects of it. Things have certainly changed, from our client needs, how we’re working as a company, how we communicate with clients and brokers, and communication with our staff. Aspen is now working in a hybrid model, but we’re certainly starting to see brokers and clients have dialogues much more face-to-face than by electronic means. I think a balance of both will become the new normal going forward.

Q: Discussions on environmental, social and governance topics are becoming more frequent and expansive in the insurance industry. How is Aspen approaching this? 

A: We recently launched our first-ever ESG report at the end of last year, and we also signed up for the United Nations Global Compact initiatives. From an underwriting perspective, we’re looking at the client’s approach to ESG, and if they’re responsible, we will support. It’s very much a collective responsibility, and by that I mean the market’s got to work with these industries so that they can transition to a cleaner future.

Q: How is Aspen approaching diversity, which is also a topic of growing interest and importance in the insurance industry?

A: In 2019, we launched our diversity and inclusion cultural transformation project. We’ve created a strong governance structure around inclusion, and in 2021 we entered into some sponsorships and partnerships highlighting our commitment to increasing and promoting cultural awareness. More recently, we’ve just launched two employee resource groups focusing on gender and race and ethnicity, which provide platforms to our employees to engage and have dialogue on how we can continuously make Aspen a more inclusive and diverse workplace environment. It’s obviously a good thing, but I think we all recognize that there is more to do in the market.

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