ATL Marine & Energy is one of the latest Lloyd’s of London approved brokers to emerge on the marine insurance scene — but it is building a wealth of experience to rival its more established peers.
The company was started by Inaki Bandres, who was one of the founders of SSL Insurance Brokers.
Bandres sold his shares in SSL in 2010 and laid the foundations for ATL through a series of tie-ups with Spain's Atlantic Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers.
ATL emerged as an independent brokerage in 2014.
Along the way it has recruited former Willis Towers Watson broker Darren Roland and JLT group broker Harry Dent. Protection and indemnity veteran and claims expert Kevin Lugg has been brought in as non-executive director to advise on claims.
This broking team is backed by a network of shipping experience and shipowner contacts from former Capital Shipbrokers executive Michael Combe and, most recently, Norwegian shipowner Haakon Steckmest, both of whom are also non-executive directors.
Bandres described the company as a niche broker and feels that this status works to its advantage in the current hardening market.
“We have a really mature team here and we all get involved in the business. The last year has been very good for us, we have achieved a lot, we are in a good position, but we are still very niche,” he said.
Growing the business
The brokerage has taken on new clients that have helped it grow, but it has also benefited from higher rates in hull and machinery, builder’s risk and war risk markets in which it specialises.
But can a small niche broker best represent shipowner clients when there is pressure from hard-pressed underwriters to seek more premium income?
We have an underwriting market which is struggling, so we have to get what the underwriter generally needs, but also minimise the effect of the owner
Inaki Bandres
“We have an underwriting market which is struggling, so we have to get what the underwriter generally needs, but also minimise the effect on the owner,” Bandres said.
But Bandres pointed out that rates are not rising for all shipowners. “Even if the Lloyd’s market is calling for higher rates, there are some astute underwriters out there who want to keep hold of the good business and they will do a deal for these people. But they are willing to let business go too.”
Lugg said that as a retail broker, ATL works directly with shipowner clients and can help get a more accurate price for their risk, even in a hardening market.
“As a broker you have to create partnerships with people, you have to have a mature conversation about risk, about coverage and history. A partnership is about writing proper lines on risks,” he said.
But, amid the ongoing efforts within Lloyd’s of London to make the marine insurance market more profitable, there has been pressure on broker commissions to help underwriters reduce acquisition costs.
Rowland suggested the commission charged by smaller brokers is not the biggest problem the industry is facing. This is the practice of facilitation that is used by mega-brokers — which are known for taking the highest levels of commission out of premiums — to sell packages of insurance.
Under pressure
“Yes, brokers are under pressure to reduce acquisition costs, but look first at the acquisition costs that bigger brokers have put together in terms of facilities in the soft market — which they were allowed to do because no one ever questioned it,” Rowland said.
ATL’s office is based on the doorstep of the Lloyd’s of London market but it also has outposts in Miami targeting the US and Latin America, while its connection with Steckmest is helping it to develop in Norway. The company also has strong market connections in Spain.
Bandres conceded that ATL's development has not been plain sailing.
Two years ago, it took on a team of brokers to develop its energy business, which did not work out.
Bandres said that while the project turned out to be a “disaster”, ATL emerged financially unscathed and the experience had not put him off acquiring other broking teams in future.
“We’ve learned from it and we’ve regrouped. It’s been a fantastic 18 months since then. But we are not scared to take people on, we feel we are in the right place now,” he said.
Lugg and Rowland’s experience make P&I an obvious market to target, while Rowland also has extensive experience broking in the Far East, where ATL hopes to develop in the future.
