The Swedish Club made big strides in improving its liquidity during 2023 and has posted profitable figures for the year.
The Gothenburg-based marine insurer booked what it called a “substantial” improvement of $34m to its free reserves in 2023, totalling $184m at the end of the year.
This offsets some of the impact investment losses made on the club’s free reserves during 2022, which had fallen from $196.5m at the end of 2021.
The mutual’s overall underwriting activities performed well last year and the club reported a 102% combined ratio, close to breakeven and the same as during the previous year.
Overall profit totalled $30m for 2023.
The club said the result was “balanced” and was generated “through prudent risk selection and pricing adequacy across all segments”.
Its board has set a general increase of 7.5% for this year.
Protection and indemnity renewals are just below 98% for 2024, which the club said is “in line with ambitions” in terms of pricing and retention.
Thomas Nordberg, managing director of The Swedish Club, said the insurer focused on delivering operational performance to its members and brokers last year.
“We sought to achieve the best possible results from our insurance and investment portfolios and focused on balancing risk and return while maintaining an appropriate liquidity profile,” he commented.
“Of course, 2023 also saw a strong focus on meeting the multitude of new compliance and regulatory requirements, and our expanded team of internal experts ensured diligent compliance with sanctions across the whole business.”
Nordberg said the support of the club’s members has been demonstrated by the high levels of renewals for 2024 and the additional tonnage that has been committed for entry during the coming year.
The club established a new regional office in Singapore last year and expanded its operations in London.
Its marine business continued to grow during 2023 and the club branched out into new areas with the launch of a new cyber insurance product.
Nordberg became managing director in 2023, succeeding Lars Rhodin.
