Apollo, based in London, has been reshaping its position in the re/insurance market with a strategy that goes beyond standard syndicate management.
Director of strategic partner syndicates Andy Gray and chief engagement officer Matt Newman outlined how the firm is building what it calls “Turnkey Plus.”
Apollo is an innovation inspired insurance platform dedicated to providing high quality products and services to clients, brokers, and capital partners at Lloyd’s.
Our wide range of products put us in a unique position where our entrepreneurial approach and service excellence delivers creative and flexible solutions for our clients and partners all in one place.
“We have a growing and diverse team of empowered and passionate experts who focus on bringing innovation, data driven decision making and collaboration to every relationship and every risk,” Andy Gray said.
The label reflects Apollo’s attempt to position itself as more than a managing agency. Gray described the business as an innovation-driven insurance platform, anchored by underwriting capabilities and supported by capital, reinsurance, and consortium structures.
Apollo is an innovation inspired insurance platform at its core, dedicated to providing high quality products and services to our partners and clients.
Andy Gray, Director of strategic partner syndicates at Apollo
He framed Apollo’s model as one designed to maximise the probability of success for its platform partners.
That isn’t just marketing gloss—Gray stressed that syndicate management fees provide a revenue stream unlinked from underwriting swings.
The company’s pipeline of potential partners includes specialist MGAs, re/insurance groups looking at Lloyd’s syndicates or Special Purpose Arrangements, and multinationals exploring captive syndicates.
Apollo has already incubated players like Envelop Risk within its Syndicate 1971 before moving them to SPA status.
Other names such as ASR, NormanMax, Coface, Compre, and Syndicate 1100 illustrate the range, from traditional syndicates to the first captive syndicate under Lloyd’s revised framework.
Gray said Apollo’s approach works because it combines reinsurance capacity, capital market relationships, and underwriting expertise in one platform. Newman reinforced that message, saying Apollo views itself as an underwriting business first.
For partners, this means access to more than just capital placement—it means working inside an ecosystem that understands risk, builds business plans, and can adapt capacity to different structures, whether institutional investors, private backers, or trade reinsurers.
That depth, Gray argued, allows Apollo to compete differently: partners don’t only receive syndicate management, they gain collaboration on products, risk solutions, and capital strategies.
Newman framed it as a long-term commitment—building businesses rather than simply managing funds.
Looking ahead, the UK’s captive insurance regime due in 2027 has triggered questions about how Apollo might fit in. Newman’s view: Lloyd’s captive syndicates and UK domiciled captives are separate tracks, and the new rules don’t directly overlap.
Still, Apollo has positioned itself as the first mover in hosting captive syndicates under Lloyd’s modern framework, and it intends to keep expanding that model.
We don’t just find a home for capital. We provide a partnership that ensures it’s deployed effectively, with underwriting growth at the center.
Matt Newman, chief engagement officer at Apollo
For companies trying to carve out a place in the Lloyd’s market, that pitch lands as both ambitious and pragmatic.
Apollo has secured “in principle” approval from the Lloyd’s Council to establish Apollo ReShare Syndicate 1972, with underwriting slated to begin on Jan. 1, 2026.
The new syndicate will provide follow-only capacity across the outwards reinsurance programmes of Apollo-managed syndicates.
The platform will be led by Paul Sandi, Apollo’s head of reinsurance, who takes on the role of active underwriter.
According to Beinsure, Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has agreed to acquire 100% of Apollo Group Holdings for $555 mn, marking a significant expansion of its specialty footprint.
The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approvals, will be funded through $371 mn in cash and $184 mn in stock issued to employees and strategic investors, including Alchemy and management.
Skyward Specialty projects the acquisition will be accretive to adjusted operating EPS in its first full year, with double-digit growth expected. The company said Apollo will add more than $1.5 bn in managed premium, strengthening its position in the U.S. specialty market.
