Arrow Risk Management (Arrow) has launched an International Professional Indemnity (PI) practice and appointed Nick Cox (pictured above) as class underwriter to lead the new operation.
The practice sits within Arrow’s wider financial and professional lines portfolio and will target a diversified PI book across UK and international markets. It will focus on sectors including design and construct, intermediaries, surveyors, architects, engineers and solicitors, underwritten with a clearly defined risk appetite.
Capacity for the new practice is provided by a panel of A rated Lloyd’s syndicates. Arrow said the backing is intended to support sustainable growth in core PI segments while allowing for measured expansion into selected overseas territories.
Mark Harrington, Arrow’s chief underwriting officer, described Cox as “an outstanding addition to the Arrow team” and “a highly respected underwriter with a strong track record in building successful PI portfolios.”
He has also been active in market initiatives through his involvement with the International Underwriting Association’s Professional Indemnity Forum. That engagement with industry bodies is expected to support Arrow’s relationships with brokers and other stakeholders in the specialist PI space.
The move comes at a time when UK law firms are seeing a shift in PI market conditions, with the October renewal season described by Howden as softer and marked by a record number of participating insurers.
Increased competition and added excess layer capacity have enabled many firms to secure up to a £10 million combined limit of indemnity with savings on excess layer premiums, although PI remains a significant expense in overall practice costs.
Business written by the new practice will be placed through the Arrow MGA platform. The firm said the platform will provide operational support and carrier data capabilities designed to streamline underwriting and reporting for capacity providers.
The international PI practice expands on Arrow’s earlier push into financial and professional lines, when the MGA hired senior underwriters to build a well-balanced book over the long term. That earlier phase established a platform across financial institutions, management liability and related classes, into which the new PI offering is intended to slot as a complementary extension of the portfolio.
Cox said the team has “built a platform purpose-designed to empower underwriters, combining superior capacity with a robust, data-driven infrastructure,” and said there are “significant opportunities in the PI sector” to develop a “strong, diversified portfolio on these solid foundations.”
