Amlin Plc, a Lloyd’s of London insurer and reinsurer, is the latest carrier to expand its focus on Latin America by way of Miami.

The new Amlin office had a soft launch last October and formally opened its doors on March 13. Plans call for using the space to service Latin American insurance clients with multi-line underwriting expertise in a range of specialty lines treaties including property, catastrophe, liability, motor, engineering, surety, political risk and marine/aviation.

Amlin said that making its Latin American base of operations in Miami is key to better reaching the broader market there.

“Miami is a very important reinsurance hub for the Latin American market,” Tom Clementi, head of Operations for Amlin’s new Miami office, said in prepared remarks. “Amlin has done business in Latin America for many years out of our London and Bermuda offices and with a local team here … we are now well positioned to grow and diversify that business and take it to the next level.”

Louis de Segonzac, head of reinsurance at Amlin in Miami, noted in a prepared statement that his company feels it is a good time to invest in Miami “with treaty placements trending away from London.”

Amlin’s move to expand in Latin America through a new Miami hub follows similar actions by other reinsurers and insurers in recent months, including Aspen Insurance, Chaucer, Hiscox, Zurich and Allied World.

The reinsurance sector has entered a period of consolidation, but Amlin is one company that has asserted it has enough scale to remain independent.

“I have been saying for the last three years that scale is important,” Amlin CEO Charles Phillips said recently, as quoted in a recent Bloomberg story. “We have been addressing the issues which are driving mergers and acquisitions. We don’t see an urgent need to participate in such activity.”

Source: Amlin plc