IronRock targets more growth in property portfolio
AS the country continues to witness rapid growth in the construction industry, general insurance company IronRock Limited said it is anticipating further growth in its property insurance portfolio this year.
“Both private and government infrastructure projects have been increasing, resulting in an increased demand for construction and property insurance. Notwithstanding the challenges faced due to supply chain disruption issues and rising inflation, several sectors continue to return to normality and generate increased economic activity,” the company said in its recently published annual report, highlighting the real estate boom taking place across the island as one of the economic activities which the insurance industry is targeting to build out more products for growth.
“With the increase in construction and the Government’s spending on infrastructure and housing set to increase, we are optimistic that the property segment of the market will continue to grow during the course of the year,” the company also said.
Property insurance offers protection against risks to property such as fire, theft and some weather damages, providing liability coverage to the owners of these properties.
During the last financial year, gross written premiums (GWP) for properties at IronRock totalled $442 million, just roughly a million more than they did in the previous year. This positions the segment as the largest class among the suite of other insurance products offered by the company and accounts for almost half or 50 per cent of its total GWP. The other categories include motor, liability and to a lesser extent engineering and marine products. “While the growth in our overall property portfolio was flat, the management team is pleased with the performance of the residential portfolio in particular, which grew by 12.6 per cent,” the directors noted.
The small insurer, which is led by Managing Director Evan Thwaites, since listing on the local stock exchange in 2016 has been trying to carve out a space in the local insurance market that is already dominated by two larger players.
Total GWP up to the end of the last financial year amounted to $881 million, 5 per cent more than the previous year and earned on the back of $53 million in net profits, despite reduced underwriting losses of $18 million. At the end of the first-quarter period ended March GWP further increased by 31 per cent, with growth in the property and motor portfolios together exceeding 40 per cent.
Receiving approximately 20 per cent of its premium payments via digital channels, the company said that its transition to becoming a technologically enabled business throughout this year will also continue as it leverages greater digital solutions to drive growth objectives.
“We have completed several projects to facilitate improved robustness of our information systems,” said Chairman David McConnell.