HOUSTON, Nov. 30, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) announced today that it has been granted Lloyd's approval to merge syndicates 4040 and 4141 for the 2010 year of account. The insurer has successfully achieved the buy-out of the external names on syndicate 4040 and will merge it with its wholly aligned syndicate 4141.
This announcement coincides with the arrival of Tony O'Connor and his team, who will be developing Property Treaty Reinsurance business on behalf of syndicate 4141 and HCC International Insurance Company. Tony is joined by his former colleagues Richard Wells and Christopher J.D. Parker. The team will write on the newly merged HCC syndicate beginning January 1, 2010.
"We are delighted to have an underwriter of Tony's caliber join our International underwriting team. The merged HCC syndicate will also be able to write Energy, Marine Hull and D&O Liability in 2010, and the increased presence in Lloyd's will act as an important platform for HCC's international growth while the new team and product lines will bring diversity and additional scale to the Third Party Liability Employers' Liability, Contractors' All Risks, Accident & Health and Contingency insurance business we already write in Lloyd's," said Barry J. Cook, Chairman and CEO of HCC Insurance Holdings (International) Limited.
HCC's total capacity at Lloyd's for the 2010 year will be 130.7 million pounds.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. is a leading international specialty insurance group with offices across the United States and in the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. As of September 30, 2009, HCC had assets of $9.0 billion and shareholders' equity of $3.0 billion. HCC is rated AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor's and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings. In addition, HCC's major domestic insurance companies are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company.
For more information about HCC, please visit http://www.hcc.com.
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made under "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The types of risks and uncertainties which may affect the Company are set forth in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Notes to Editor:
HCC Underwriting Agency Ltd (HCCUA) commenced underwriting on December 1, 2003. In December 2005, HCCUA's holding company, HCC Holdings Group Limited was acquired by HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC).