AGM Statement

RNS Number : 1195O

Randall & Quilter Inv Hldgs PLC

23 June 2010

 



Date:	23 June 2010
On behalf of:	Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc ("Randall & Quilter" or the "Company")
	For immediate release

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc

AGM Statement

The Board of Randall and Quilter Investment Holdings plc (AIM:RQIH), the specialist non-life insurance investor, service provider and underwriting manager, is pleased to announce that all resolutions proposed at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held earlier today were duly passed.

Speaking at the AGM, Chairman and CEO Ken Randall made the following statement:

"Since announcing our final results on 29 April 2010, I am pleased to confirm that all divisions of the business continue to develop in line with our expectations. 

The recent acquisition of La Licorne has demonstrated our ability to expand the Company's insurance investment activities into continental Europe, facilitated by our local partnership with GLOBAL Re. Preliminary indications are that the pressures of Solvency II will lead to additional opportunities in Europe from insurers looking to unlock trapped capital through the sale of non-core subsidiaries in run-off.

The remainder of the Insurance Investments division continues to perform well. Our owned insurance company run-offs are developing as indicated in our final results for 2009. We are also currently examining a number of interesting investment opportunities, especially in the Lloyd's Reinsurance to Close market (RITC).

We continue to benefit from our prudent policy of not discounting reserves but we remain cautious about the outlook for investment returns during the remainder of the year and beyond given the backdrop of persistently low interest rates and continued market volatility. Whilst we continue to look for ways of boosting returns within the confines of our conservative investment philosophy and regulatory constraints, our fixed income portfolio comprises of primarily short duration and high quality securities, which inevitably have a low running yield.

The year has begun well in the Insurance Services division with some important new business wins. We are confident that the profits from our service businesses will be restored to 2008 levels. The expectation of an improved performance has been aided by our recent rebranding and restructuring initiatives, our move into broker run-off and the anticipated profit commission from the management contract with syndicate 3330.

The acquisition of JMD Specialist Insurance Services, a provider of premium collection, binding authority and broker reporting services has undoubtedly increased our capabilities in the 'live' servicing market and since the acquisition we have successfully expanded the blue-chip client base by agreeing contracts with a number of market participants. In addition, the Company is looking at other bolt-on acquisitions in the more specialist end of the 'live' servicing market to increase our offering further.

The Captives division continues to be a reliable performer and fallout from broker consolidation has resulted in a small number of new client wins since year end. Our Captives division remains committed to establishing an attractive independent alternative to the captive management operations of the large US brokers. Expansion opportunities are being examined both through ground-up initiatives to increase our geographical scope and through acquisition.

Good progress has also been made in the new underwriting management division and we are working closely with our first client to gain approval for the launch of a new Lloyd's 'Turnkey' syndicate towards the end of the year, with a view to commencing underwriting soon after. We are also looking at a number of other interesting opportunities to continue our measured expansion into 'Turnkey' management. The Company has also made progress with our delegated underwriting business, having identified a team which has access to an attractive book of niche business in Canada. We are currently in the process of finalising third party capacity support for this underwriting unit and will provide further updates in due course. 

I remain encouraged by the general outlook for the business."

ENDS

Enquiries to:

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc	www.rqih.co.uk
Tom Booth	Tel: [phone]
Numis Securities Limited
Stuart Skinner (Nominated Advisor)	Tel: [phone]
Charles Farquhar (Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited
Dru Danford / Stephane Auton	Tel: [phone]
Redleaf Communications	r&[e-mail]
Emma Kane / Laura Hudson	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

§  Since formation, Randall & Quilter has pursued a buy and build strategy to create a comprehensive range of investment activities and services in the global non-life insurance market and is focused on the following four core areas:

-    Insurance Investments;

-    Insurance Services;

-    Underwriting Management; and

-    Captives

§  The Group currently has:

-    a portfolio of nine insurance companies in run-off (from the UK, US and Europe) with net assets of c.£66m as at 31 December 2009;

-    wide service capability in both the 'live' and 'run-off' markets

-    a team of approximately 240 insurance professionals based in the UK, USA and Bermuda; and

-    'in principle' approval by Lloyd's of London to provide 'turnkey' management services to syndicates.

§  The Group was founded by Ken Randall, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, and Alan Quilter, Group Finance Director who both have extensive experience in the industry including as Head of Regulation of Lloyd's and as Head of the Market Financial Services Group respectively.

 

END

 

 

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