Rokstone Receives Coverholder Licence to Underwrite in Africa

Article/ Dec 21 News

Brokers across Africa can now access world leading insurance from one of the biggest and fastest growing Property & Casualty MGAs in the world, with a multilingual team of specialist underwriters.  Initially writing Political Violence & Terrorism and Property directly from Mauritius, the office expects to offer Financial Lines later in the year. Rokstone is one of the world’s largest MGAs, serving the needs of international (re)insurance brokers, with offices in the UK, Europe, USA, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It currently underwrites USD500m GWP in several specialty lines including Marine, Political Violence & Terrorism, Direct & Facultative Property, Property Treaty, Construction & Engineering, Marine Cargo and Liability.  

The Political Violence & Terrorism facility has A rated capacity (A+ by Standard & Poor’s) from Lloyd’s Syndicates with capacity of USD100m per risk. The cover uniquely reflects the emerging and current terrorist threats, with additional emphasis on crisis management, victim support and rehabilitation, not available anywhere else in the market. Quotes can be obtained within 24 hours.  The Property binder has A rated capacity from AM Best with a USD15m line.

The Rokstone Mauritius office is managed by Vinaye Seebaluck, Director and Head of Underwriting and Avinash Seebhujun, Executive Director and Head of Compliance. Vinaye has over 18 years’ experience in (re)insurance, heading up various Special Risks and PV portfolios for several large local companies such as Jubilee Insurance (Mauritius) Ltd, AXA Africa Specialty Risks and Swan Insurance. Avinash has over 12 years of legal and compliance experience in several sectors including (re)insurance, banking, leasing and financial services. He has worked at Rand Merchant Bank based in South Africa and AXA Africa Specialty Risks before joining Rokstone. The Group is now actively recruiting to add additional specialist underwriters to grow the team in line with expected growth.

“We’re delighted that our Mauritius office is now officially open for business. We continue to grow the Group’s geographic presence and diversify its speciality product range. Having boots firmly on the ground in the region means we can better serve our clients with a fast, responsive local service and unbeatable cover. We have strong growth targets in the region and expect to be writing USD8m premium before the end of the year."

Vinaye Seebaluck

 “Having a local licence in Mauritius will save our brokers in Africa valuable time, as they don’t need to go through a Lloyd’s broker and wait for the risk to be passed around the market. With our extensive capacity of USD100m per risk for Political Violence & Terrorism, we are here to provide our producers a one stop shop. Our specialist knowledge, use of technology and approach to underwriting also means we can provide broader, more relevant cover, that’s cheaper and quicker to secure than anywhere else. We’re delighted to secure strong capacity for the product – testament to the confidence that carriers have in our expertise and knowledge of this market.”