Investing at Lloyd’s
Lloyd’s has become an increasingly popular choice among investors and is now considered as an alternative asset class ranking alongside hedge funds and private equity, for the following reasons:

• underwriting with limited liability;
• double use of assets (Members can make a return on profitable underwriting while continuing to benefit from the assets which back their underwriting capacity);
• underwriting revenue has low correlation with other investment classes;
• pension and tax benefits.

An individual can participate in direct insurance at Lloyd’s on a limited liability basis, by establishing a limited liability vehicle (LLV), which becomes Member of Lloyd’s.  These are UK registered private corporations with liability limited to the value of the corporation’s assets. A LLV can be a Nameco (owned by one or more shareholders), a Limited Liability Partnership (owned by members and tax transparent), or a Scottish Limited Partnership.

The basic differences between the methods of investing lie in their structure and taxation. The choice of which investment vehicle to use is based on each individual investor’s particular circumstances and each decision is taken in conjunction with specialist advisers.

Investing in Lloyd’s with a Limited Liability Partnership

Investing in Lloyd’s with a Nameco

Namecos and LLPs compared

Obtaining underwriting capacity
Investors can obtain underwriting capacity on syndicates at Lloyd’s by either acquiring individual syndicates (bespoke underwriting) or by buying into a pool of syndicates called a MAPA.

For information on bespoke portfolios, please click here.
For information on purchasing underwriting using HAL’s MAPA, please click here.