HDI Global UK & Ireland has received approval in principle from Lloyd's to establish a new syndicate, a milestone in the implementation of the firm's Xcelerate29 growth strategy.
The syndicate will be launched and managed in partnership with PoloWorks, which will provide the infrastructure and Lloyd's market expertise to support its establishment and ongoing operation.
The approval in principle allows HDI to proceed through the remaining regulatory and operational stages required before it can obtain full permission to underwrite, expected in the coming months.
Once operational, the syndicate will complement HDI Global's existing insurance platforms, giving clients and brokers access to Lloyd's global licences, infrastructure and market capabilities alongside HDI's own specialist underwriting expertise.
The syndicate has been assigned the number 2029, a detail HDI has explicitly tied to its four-year Xcelerate29 strategy, which runs from 2026 to 2029.
David Hullin, member of the HDI Global executive board responsible for international regions outside DACH and the US, and for international programmes, said expanding the firm's presence in the Lloyd's market is fully aligned with that strategy, and that the syndicate number fittingly reflects the ambitions underpinning the growth journey.
Xcelerate29 was externally launched in February 2026 after being workshopped by global leadership through the second half of 2025, built around three pillars: focused international expansion in specific regions including the Middle East, excellence across core functions such as underwriting, claims and investment expense, and building a business people want to work for.
Simon Hunt, chief executive of HDI Global UK & Ireland, has separately described the UK and Ireland business as a core hub central to the group-wide strategy's overall success.
Hunt was appointed permanently to the UK and Ireland chief executive role, effective June 1, 2026, having served as interim chief executive since February, and following the departure of former CEO Stephanie Ogden. Hunt also previously served as the division's chief financial officer since joining HDI Global in 2019.
Hunt said receiving approval in principle from Lloyd's is an important milestone reflecting the strength of HDI's strategy, underwriting expertise and long-term commitment to the market, calling Lloyd's one of the world's most respected insurance platforms. He said establishing a syndicate will offer greater choice to clients and brokers, broaden market reach, and create additional opportunities for sustainable growth, while acknowledging further steps remain before underwriting can commence.
Paul Andrews, chief executive of PoloWorks and Polo Managing Agency, said Polo Managing Agency has worked closely with the HDI team to establish the foundations for a successful Lloyd's platform, describing HDI's underwriting expertise and clear market ambitions as the basis for continuing the partnership through to launch.
HDI's move continues a period of expanding syndicate activity at Lloyd's more broadly, with support for new syndicates having grown across the market following a financial strength rating upgrade in 2024, opening the way for new geographies and products to enter the market.
For HDI specifically, the syndicate approval follows other recent Xcelerate29-linked appointments across its global business, including new chief underwriting officers for specialty and long-tail lines at HDI Global US and a new head of cyber underwriting, suggesting the Lloyd's syndicate sits within a wider, coordinated build-out of underwriting leadership and distribution capability across the group rather than a standalone initiative.
Choosing PoloWorks as launch partner is a notable detail in its own right.
PoloWorks, through Polo Managing Agency, has built a track record supporting other insurers' entries into Lloyd's, and its own parent group, Marco Capital, is itself in the process of substantially expanding PoloWorks through the acquisition of Pro Global, creating one of the industry's largest specialist insurance services platforms spanning Lloyd's and international markets.
HDI's syndicate is launching into that expanding infrastructure just as it scales up, which could work in HDI's favour if the combined platform delivers the broader operational capability both parties are promising, though it also means HDI's own Lloyd's ambitions are now tied in part to how smoothly PoloWorks manages its own concurrent integration of Pro Global.
