29 August 2014News

JLT expands US specialty business

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) is to significantly expand its US specialty capabilities and merge JLT Specialty and Lloyd & Partners to drive a new phase of growth.

The company’s decision to expand follows on from its successful acquisition of Towers Watson Re last year.

The announcement signals a significant expansion of the group’s US activities into specialty areas including energy, construction, financial lines, credit, political & security and aerospace.

JLT believes it now has the brand, size, geographic reach, leadership and sufficient demand to fulfil its ambition to create a global specialty business.

The firm has appointed Michael Rice as chief executive officer (CEO) and Pat Donnelly as president and deputy CEO of JLT Specialty in an attempt to drive growth.

Mark Drummond Brady, deputy group CEO of JLT, and Jonathan Palmer-Brown, a member of the JLT Group Executive Committee, will also become members of the US executive team to support the business' growth plans and ensure that it is aligned and complementary to the rest of the organisation.

JLT expects the expansion plan to result in a net investment of approximately £50 million during the period 2015 to 2017, making optimal use of the infrastructure it has put in place to support JLT Towers Re.

JLT believes the bringing together of JLT Specialty and Lloyd & Partners will uniquely position the enlarged business for enhanced growth, creating a business of scale and international reach.

The merger will take effect from January 1, 2015, at which point John Lloyd, current CEO of Lloyd & Partners and Adrian Girling, current chairman of JLT Specialty, will become CEO and chairman respectively of the combined business which will trade as JLT Specialty.

Dominic Burke, JLT Group CEO, said: "The expansion of JLT's US specialty capability builds on the success we have had over recent years and is the next natural step in our evolution. Under Michael Rice's dynamic leadership, we are committed to building the pre-eminent specialty team in the US and anticipate a very positive response from experienced professionals interested in joining us. The US is a market in which we see a significant opportunity and demand for JLT's distinctive offering and to which we are firmly committed following our successful acquisition of Towers Watson Re last year.

“The merger of JLT Specialty and Lloyd & Partners creates a real powerhouse in the market in our chosen specialty areas under John Lloyd's proven leadership. Harnessing their market leading capabilities into a single business promises to enhance their ability to meet their clients' international demands, pursue our group strategy and deliver market leading organic growth. Together these plans will drive significant long term benefit for our clients, our people, our trading partners and our shareholders."

James Twining, Group Commercial Director at JLT, added: "JLT has grown very strongly over the past few years and that success has really been driven by us adopting a very clear strategy around our key areas of specialty, increasing our geographic reach, and also in driving a very distinctive culture which has helped us to attract some of the best people in the industry. This period of success has allowed us to develop a brand, a capability, a level of expertise and a reputation in the market, which means that we’re now in a position to drive a new phase of growth in what remains the world’s largest insurance market.

By bringing together these two businesses we have created an enhanced platform for growth, an enhanced service for clients and more opportunities for our own people in a business of great scale and reach."