Lloyd’s of London kicked off its 2025 reinsurance capacity auctions with a bang. Trading in the first of three auctions hit £86 mn, the busiest opening round in ten years, with deals struck across 21 syndicates.
Data from Argenta shows subscriptions at £32.7 mn against £35.2 mn of tenders – healthy liquidity and a signal that investors still want in on Lloyd’s capacity.
New entrants Volante Syndicate 1699, Convex Syndicate 1984, and Oak Syndicate 2843 all made their auction debuts, broadening the market mix as fresh platforms step up.
Yet prices told a softer story. Argenta’s composite index for traded capacity fell from 41.4 p per £1 in the 2024 auctions to 36.9 p this year.
Reinsurance pricing came up first. Property lines at Lloyd’s are seeing pressure as competition builds.
Market participants acknowledged this but stressed that there are no destabilising outliers or “bad actors” aggressively undercutting peers.
That restraint suggests the market is more stable than in past soft cycles.
Managing general agents remain a sticking point. Executives warned that MGAs without a defined niche could face turbulence ahead, while Lloyd’s itself is said to be pushing back against MGA-led entries.
With Lloyd’s still intent on protecting its newly upgraded credit rating, approval is more likely to go to seasoned, well-capitalised syndicates.
Analysts point to the arrival of first-time syndicates, many priced lower thanks to limited track record and small aligned capacity, as part of the drag.
Trading wasn’t evenly spread. Beazley’s Syndicate 623 dominated activity with £15.5 mn exchanged at an average 52.5 p per £1, reflecting its strong reputation and loyal following.
At the opposite end, NormanMax Syndicate 3939 moved £10.2 mn at the rock-bottom price of 0.1 p.
With £86mn already on the board, more than half of 2024’s total £154 mn across all three auctions, momentum points to a potentially record-setting season if volumes hold up.
According to Beinsure, Lloyd’s announced its results for the first six months of 2025 with gross written premium increasing to £32.5 bn and a combined ratio of 92.5%.
Gross written premium increased by 6.2% to £32.5 bn, driven by volume growth of 11.9% from new and existing syndicates.
The positive impact from volume was partially offset by adverse foreign exchange movements of (2.2)% as sterling strengthened against the US dollar, and by a negative price change of (3.5)%, though rates in most segments remain adequate.
The market reported an underwriting result of £1.5 bn, with the combined ratio rising to 92.5% driven primarily by the impact of the California wildfires in the first quarter of 2025.
