The company
History
Origins
MUM was conceived by eight individuals in the summer of 2000. Seven of us had worked together at CIGNA Re Europe, and the odd man out, Mark Edwards, had previously worked at Duncanson and Holt Europe.
As a team we had worked together for a considerable number of years and were known throughout the global Accident and Health marketplace. We decided to create an underwriting agency which we hoped would be the natural successor to CIGNA Re Europe, and would take over portions of the portfolio at the 2001 renewal.
This was a more difficult proposition than it sounds as an Accident and Health Underwriting Agency, Unicover, had recently collapsed with losses which some pundits speculated at the time could reach $9 billion dollars. (For more information on the Unicover fiasco, "the Insurance Insider" is an excellent reference).
Consequently if we were going to be successful we had to reinvent the wheel. The traditional model for starting an underwriting agency was to keep costs low, usually with only one or two personnel and a risk management system no more complex than a couple of spreadsheets and a sharp pencil. For an underwriting agency to survive in the post-Unicover environment, a different model would be needed.
MUM would have to be as professional and well-staffed as the insurance companies and Lloyd's syndicates (known as carriers) we hoped to partner with, and to have risk management systems as advanced, if not more so, than potential carriers. We would also need to be as operationally transparent to our carriers, brokers and clients as the old style pre Unicover agencies were opaque.
We approached the problem from several different directions:
- We put our money where our mouth was. The Directors and staff of MUM pledged a million pounds in share capital. We are unaware of any underwriting agency ever starting out with so much capital.
- We held a beauty parade of underwriting systems and eventually chose the Iris system, an underwriting system now used by many leaders in the Insurance industry including Axis, Everest, XL, QBE and a number of leading Lloyd's syndicates.
- We had a large highly skilled team from day one, including a team of four underwriting staff.
- We were transparent. There would be no secrets kept from our carriers, our brokers or our clients. In the past, underwriting agents were very insecure, fearing that if the carriers knew everything about the account, the agent would be cut out and the carriers would write the business themselves.
MUM's view is quite different. If we cannot add value, and if the carriers think they can do a better job without us, then we should not be working together. MUM stands or falls by its performance and results.
With these four principles in place we approached various carriers to work with us for the 2001 underwriting year. After long months of negotiation throughout the summer of 2000, MUM opened for business in October 2000 with three carriers, each taking a specific element of the MUM portfolio:
Ace Insurance S.A.- N.V.
Lloyd's Syndicate 2488 (ACE Global Markets)
Combined Life Insurance Company
These three companies partnered with MUM for the 2001, 2002 and 2003 underwriting years. All three are excellent companies with highly qualified staff and although for various reasons we no longer work with any of the three directly, we have no reservations in recommending them strongly.
2004
2004 was a pivotal year for MUM with all three of our facilities being underwritten by new partners. Transatlantic Reinsurance Company (TRC) for the Personal Accident and Life Reinsurance, Chaucer Syndicates at Lloyd’s of London for Personal Accident Insurance and Ecclesiastical Life Insurance Company for Direct Group Life Insurance. We are proud to be still representing these companies today
Transatlantic are one of the highest rated companies in the reinsurance market and had never worked with an underwriting agency before. Our clients loved the addition security provided by the extra ‘A’ and TRC were supportive of MUM’s marketing efforts from the outset. TRC are head quartered in New York and apart from their London branch, have offices in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, South Africa and Switzerland. Many of these offices have been helpful in expanding the reach of MUM’s marketing.
All three facilities have returned exceptional 2004 underwriting results.
2005
2005 proved to be a year of real growth for the company. Having not only survived the effects on the market of the tragedies of September 11th, but emerging in the aftermath as a genuine market leader, the portfolio was expanding in size and profitability. MUM had an excellent working relationship with its new partners and this all provided the stable foundations from which we were able to expand.
MUM opened its first overseas office in Brisbane - Momentum Underwriting Management Australia PTY Limited, which is known affectionately by the London office as MUMA. Noel Nosworthy joined us in June 2005 having had a business relationship with the people at MUM stretching back to 1993.
We were fortunate that Noel's arrival in the summer of 2005 coincided with a brief resurgence in the fortunes of English cricket when The Ashes joined The William Webb Ellis Trophy in the national silverware cabinet. The London office thus enjoyed a brief hiatus before again being constantly reminded of the sporting superiority of Down Under in almost every sport Australia turn their hand to.
2005 also saw MUM manage two new facilities, the first with Kiln Life Syndicate for International Group Life business and the second a much larger facility the MUM Sports Consortium.
Peter Thompson, a specialist in Sports Disability Insurance joined MUM in March 2005. With an outstanding record in a notoriously difficult class, Peter has been supported for a number of years by six highly regarded Lloyd's syndicates. MUM is delighted that the same six syndicates chose to support Peter in his new home. The six members of the MUM Sports Consortium are:
Kiln (KLN 510)
Catlin (SJC 2003)
Atrium (ATR 570)
St Pauls (SPL 5000)
Liberty (LIB 4472)
Atrium (AUW 609)
2006
No new facilities were added in 2006 although several new members of staff arrived to help us support and service our existing business. The older facilities have all continued to provide excellent underwriting results and while it is a little early to look at this year early indications are very good.
We have however been working on a number of projects and marketing initiatives which we expect to bear fruit within the next twenty four months.