Report of the Directors of the Managing AgentThe directors of the Managing Agent present their Annual Report and Accounts of Syndicate 1945 (‘the Syndicate’) for the year ended 31 December 2025. This annual report is prepared using the annual basis of accounting as required by Statutory Instrument No 1950 of 2008, the Insurance Accounts Directive (Lloyd’s Syndicate and Aggregate Accounts) Regulations 2008 and applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and Financial Reporting Standard 103: Insurance Contracts (FRS103), and the Lloyd’s Syndicate Accounts Instructions Version 3.1 as modified by the Frequently Asked Questions version 1.1 issued by Lloyd’s. The Syndicate continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual accounts (‘Report and Accounts’).
Principal Activities
This report covers the business of the Syndicate, whose principal activity during the year continued to be the transaction of insurance and reinsurance business in the United Kingdom and overseas, underwriting at Lloyd’s of London.
Business Review
During 2025, Syndicate 1945 underwrote several classes of business, notably Accident and Health, Marine, Energy, Casualty, and Credit. The Syndicate’s growth was primarily driven by further development within the Credit class, selective expansion in Casualty and Energy and the introduction of the Aviation class. This strategic approach enabled the Syndicate to diversify its portfolio and broaden its underwriting footprint, in line with its ongoing strategy.
For the calendar year, the Syndicate reported a total comprehensive income of £31.6m, a significant increase compared to £8.7m in 2024. The combined ratio improved to 87.1% from 97.2% in the prior year. These results reflected the Syndicate’s disciplined execution of its strategy, focusing on expanding and diversifying its underwriting portfolio.
Growth throughout the year was guided by price adequacy, which led to premium income at the whole account level being lower than initially planned. The Syndicate actively managed its portfolio by reducing premium in Accident & Health and Marine, while increasing premium in Casualty, Credit, and Energy. This optimisation ensured that growth was sustainable and aligned with market conditions.
In 2025, the Syndicate achieved an average rate increase of 2.9% across the account. Rate changes varied by class and sub-class, reflecting the distinct market dynamics and targeted underwriting actions. Accident & Health experienced rate increases above expectations, driven by strong performance in the Personal Accident and Travel sub-classes. The Aviation class also saw higher-than-planned rate changes, primarily in the Space sub-class. Energy rates exceeded plan, particularly in the Liability sub-class. In contrast, the Marine class recorded lower rate changes, with the Cargo sub-class contributing to this underperformance. Despite these differences, all classes showed better-than-expected price adequacy, highlighting the Syndicate’s commitment to disciplined underwriting and portfolio optimisation.
These outcomes demonstrate the Syndicate’s focus on risk selection, price adequacy and active management of its underwriting portfolio across all lines of business. The ongoing strategy is to concentrate on core business lines, optimise results through prudent underwriting, and seek growth opportunities in segments offering the best returns, while reducing exposure in underperforming areas as necessary.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Syndicate anticipates further pressures on market conditions in certain classes. Nonetheless, by maintaining an emphasis on price adequacy, the Syndicate remains optimistic and intends to remain responsive to market changes. The Syndicate will continue to provide reliable strength and expertise to clients and brokers, upholding a disciplined underwriting approach, balancing risk and reward, and prioritising profitability over top-line growth. The stamp capacity for the 2026 year of account is set at £206.0m reflecting an expected increase in premium income, driven by new opportunities for the Syndicate.
Total comprehensive income for the financial year 2025 was £31.6m, up from £8.7m in 2024. The profit for the year, excluding currency translation loss, amounted to £34.1m (2024: £11.3m). The total recognised result on open years was a profit of £24.8m compared to a loss of £0.3m in 2024. This figure is calculated as the aggregate of the results from the 2023 year of account at 36 months, the 2024 year of account at 24 months, and the 2025 year of account at 12 months. The balance due to the Members of the Syndicate as at 31 December 2025 was £63.2m, up from £31.3m at the prior year-end.
