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FY2013 Annual Report · Berentzen-Gruppe
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Beazley plc | Annual report and accounts 2013

Sustained performance

28 years of profitable growth
Beazley’s vision is to become, and be recognised  
as, the highest performing specialist insurer.

2004
 $1,374.9m

2005
$1,485.1m

2006
$1,762.0m

2007
$1,919.6m

2008
$1,984.9m

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

$736.2m

Group share

$1,015.6m

Group share

$1,371.0m

Group share

$1,561.0m

Group share

$1,620.0m

Group share

Construction & engineering  
account started

Beazley MGA started in US

Beazley acquires Omaha P&C 
and renames it Beazley 
Insurance Company, Inc. (BICI)

US hurricanes Katrina,  
Rita and Wilma $101.0bn

Beazley takes full ownership of 
APUA and renames it Beazley 
Limited 

Expansion of construction & 
engineering team into Singapore 

Beazley opens new office in Paris 

Lloyd’s active members: 2,211

Capacity: £14.8bn

Syndicates: 65

Beazley opens new office in 
Munich

Political risks & contingency 
group formed as new division

Acquisition of Momentum  
Underwriting Management

Accident & life formed  
as a new division

US hurricane Ike $20bn

1986  
$13.4m 

Trading
began
1986

1991
$42.5m

1992  
$58.8m 

1997
$128.4m

Managed gross premiums 

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums 

Managed gross premiums

Begin trading at the ‘old’ 1958 Lloyd’s building in 1985 with a capacity of £8.3bn

Management buyout of Hiscox share

Beazley, Furlonge & Hiscox established and takes over managing syndicate 623

Commercial property account started

Specialty lines and treaty accounts started

Corporate capital introduced at Lloyd’s followed by Lloyd’s Reconstruction and Renewal

UK windstorms $3.5bn

European storms $10bn

APUA, based in Hong Kong, forms a strategic partnership with Beazley Furlonge

US hurricane Andrew $17bn

UK Bishopsgate explosion $750m

US Northridge earthquake $12.5bn

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Beazley began life in 1986. Since then, we have grown steadily in terms of the risks  
we cover, the clients we serve and our geographic reach, and today Beazley is a mature 
insurance business with a well-diversified portfolio. We have weathered some of the 
toughest times the Lloyd’s market has seen in more than three centuries and our 
underwriting operations have an unbroken record of profitability.

2009
$2,121.7m

2010
$2,108.5m

2011
$2,079.2m

2012
$2,278.0m

2013
$2,352.3m

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums

$1,751.3m

Group share

$1,741.6m

Group share

$1,712.5m

Group share

$1,895.9m

Group share

$1,970.2m

Group share

Raised £150m through rights  
issue to develop our business  
at Lloyd’s and in the US 

Acquisition of First State 
Management Group, Inc.,  
a US underwriting manager 
focusing on surplus lines 
commercial property business

Beazley plc becomes the new 
holding company for the group, 
incorporated in Jersey and 
tax-resident in Ireland

Andrew Beazley, co-founder of 
Beazley Group and chief executive 
until September 2008, dies at the 
age of 57

Beazley changes functional  
and presentational currency  
to US dollar

Beazley opens new office in Oslo

Special purpose syndicate 6107 
formed to grow reinsurance 
business

Chile and NZ earthquakes $13.5bn

Deepwater Horizon explosion 
triggers biggest oil spill in history

Expansion of Australian accident 
and health business through 
acquisition of two MGAs

Launch of the Andrew Beazley 
Broker Academy

Nick Furlonge, co-founder, retires 
as an executive member but 
becomes a non-executive of 
Beazley Furlonge Limited

Beazley remains profitable in worst 
year ever for insured natural 
catastrophe losses

Tohoku earthquake in Japan $35bn

Floods in Thailand $15bn

US tornadoes $14bn

NZ earthquake $15bn

Expansion into aviation and  
kidnap & ransom markets

Construction Consortium launched 
at Lloyd’s

Reinsurance division broadens 
access to South East Asia, China 
and South Korea business with 
local presence in Singapore

Political risk & contingency  
expand into French market

Superstorm Sandy $20-25bn

Miami office opened to access 
Latin American reinsurance 
business

Beazley Flight - comprehensive 
emergency evacuation cover – 
launched

Beazley data breach cover 
extended in Europe. 1,000th 
breach managed

Local representation added in  
Rio to develop Latin American 
insurance business

1998  
$168.8m 

2000
$256.1m

2001  
$431.6m 

Flotation
2002

Managed gross premiums 

Managed gross premiums

Managed gross premiums 

Recall, contingency and political risks accounts started

Management buyout of minority shareholders

2003
$1,148.7m

Managed gross premiums

Marine account started

European storms $12bn

EPL and UK PI accounts started

Flotation raised £150m to set up Beazley Group plc

D&O healthcare, energy, cargo and specie accounts started

US 9/11 terrorist attack $20.3bn

SARS outbreak in Asia $3.5bn

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Sustained performance

On 2 November 2012 New York mayor Michael 
Bloomberg announced the cancellation of the 42nd 
New York marathon in the wake of superstorm Sandy, 
two days before it was due to be run. The event was 
insured at Lloyd’s and led by Beazley: the cancellation 
claim was settled swiftly.

A year later, we were delighted once again to support
the New York marathon. A record field of 50,740 
runners marked the city’s resurgence after Sandy. 
The winners, Geoffrey Mutai and Priscah Jeptoo, 
averaged 4.54 mins and 5.32 mins per mile
respectively over the 26.2 miles.

Profit before income tax  

$313.3m

(2012: $251.2m)

Combined ratio  

84%

(2012: 91%)

Return on equity  

21%

(2012: 19%)

 Business model and strategy 
 Our key performance indicators
 Our key differentiators

Strategic report
4 
5 
6 
10  High performing culture
12  Chairman’s statement
14  Chief executive’s statement
18  Q&A with the chief executive
 Performance by division
20 
22  Life, accident & health
24  Marine
26  Political risks & contingency
28  Property
30  Reinsurance
32  Specialty lines

34  Financial review

34  Group performance
40  Balance sheet management
44   Group structure
45  Operational update
47  Risk management
52  Corporate social responsibility
57  Directors’ report

Governance
61  Letter from our chairman
62  Board of directors
64  Investor relations
66  Statement of corporate governance
73  Letter from our chairman of the 

remuneration committee
74  Directors’ remuneration report
99  Statement of directors’ 

responsibilities

100  Independent auditor’s report

Financial statements
105  Consolidated statement of profit  

or loss

106   Statement of comprehensive 

income

107  Statement of changes in equity
108  Statements of financial position 
109  Statements of cash flows
110  Notes to the financial statements
167  Glossary

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Strategic report

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

1

Strategic report

The strategic report describes our corporate strategy, 
our business model and the key differentiators that 
distinguish our business. It includes perspectives from 
our chairman, chief executive officer and other senior 
executives on the company’s performance in 2013 and 
prospects for the year ahead.

4 

 Business model and 
strategy

5 

 Our key performance 
indicators

6  Our key differentiators

2

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

10  High performing culture

 Business model and strategy 
 Our key performance indicators
 Our key differentiators

In this section
4 
5 
6 
10  High performing culture
12  Chairman’s statement
14  Chief executive’s statement
18  Q&A with the chief executive
20 
 Performance by division
34  Financial review
45 
47 
52 
57 

 Operational update
 Risk management
 Corporate social responsibility
 Directors’ report

12  Chairman’s statement

18   Q&A with the 
chief executive

14   Chief executive’s  

statement

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

3

A business model and strategy  
that support high performance

Our business model

Our strategy

Reconfirmed annually through the 
business planning process, our business 
model is as follows:

•	 Beazley is a specialist insurer. We have a targeted 
product set, very largely in commercial lines of 
business, and underwrite each risk on its own 
merits

•	 We employ highly skilled, experienced and 
specialist underwriters and claims managers

•	 We tend to write capped liabilities
•	 We operate through specific insurance hubs rather 
than seeking a local presence in every country in 
which we do business 

•	 We transact business through brokers and work 
with selected managing general agencies and 
managing general underwriters to improve 
distribution in specialist niches 

Our strategy is directed towards the 
achievement of our vision, which is to 
become, and be recognised as, the 
highest performing specialist insurer. 
To this end, our strategy comprises:

•	 Prudent capital allocation to achieve a well 

diversified portfolio that is resistant to shocks in 
any individual line of business

•	 The creation of an environment in which talented 
individuals with entrepreneurial spirit can build 
successful businesses

•	 The ability to scale our operations to ensure that 

client and broker service keeps pace – and 
wherever possible improves – as the company 
grows 

•	 Consistent investment in product innovations to 
provide better products and services to improve 
our clients’ risk transfer

4

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Our key performance indicators 

KPIs

Financial highlights

Earnings per share (c) 

Net assets per share (c) 

Gross premiums written ($m) 

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

42.1

42.4

52.4

28.9

13.0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

300
250
200
150
100
50
0

21.7

169.8

23.2

25.8

191.4 185.9

18.2

248.3

23.0

217.5

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2000

1500

1000

500

0

.

3
1
5
7
1

,

.

6
1
4
7
1

,

.

5
2
1
7
1

,

.

9
5
9
8
1

,

.

2
0
7
9

,

1

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Basic EPS is at 2.0x total dividend cover for 
2013. Average EPS over the last five years is  
at 4.5x average dividend cover (excluding the 
special dividends).

Tangible

Intangible

11% growth in net assets per share during 
2013.

Growth of 4% in 2013 and 12% since 2009.

Dividends per share (p) 

Return on equity (%) 

Combined ratio (%) 

25

20

15

10

5

0

2.5
7.5

7.9

7.0

8.4
8.3

16.1
8.8

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Interim and final

Special

The second interim dividend in 2013 is in line 
with our dividend strategy and has grown by 6%. 
In addition we are paying a special dividend  
of 16.1p.

25

20

15

10

5

0

24

19

21

19

6

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Cumulative five year return on equity of 89%.

100

80

60

40

20

0

90

35
55

88

36
52

99

37
62

91

38
53

84

39
45

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Our combined ratio has averaged 90% over  
five years.

Non-financial highlights

Great Place to Work survey (%)

100

80

60

40

20

0

81

76

83

2008

2011

2013

Since 2008, Beazley has run an employment
engagement survey (now every two years)
managed by the Great Place to Work® 
organisation. In 2013, for the third time in
a row, a large majority of employees rated 
Beazley a great place to work.

For further details 
go to page 104

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

5

Our key differentiators
We seek to differentiate ourselves from our 
competitors in three key ways, all of which  
are important value drivers for Beazley.

Entrepreneurial spirit

Strong partnerships

Diversified business

v
a
l
u
e

6

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Entrepreneurial spirit

Corporate culture matters. Our open, collegial and 
collaborative culture means our clients and brokers interact 
with entrepreneurial underwriters who give straight answers 
and make decisions quickly.

For us entrepreneurial spirit has a very specific meaning,  
a meaning that guides us in evaluating new hires to our 
underwriting teams around the world. We look for individuals 
who have a strong sense of ownership for the business  
that they underwrite and are willing – indeed keen – to be 
accountable for their underwriting decisions. And we look  
for individuals who have a broad understanding of the ways 
in which economic, political and social changes can impact 
their book.

In the course of 2013, we asked our people to identify the 
behaviours that they believed most strongly characterised 
Beazley. They identified seven qualities, which are described 
in ‘High performing culture’ on pages 10 and 11. Many of 
these qualities – such as boldness, expertise, creativity and 
passion – are fundamental to entrepreneurial organisations. 
Others – such as friendliness, honour and a commitment  
to deliver on our promises – help foster an environment of 
trust and mutual support within the company that is equally 
important to our success. 

Strong partnerships

Our business is not conducted through anonymous 
transactions – we rely on strong relationships with both 
brokers and clients. The reciprocity of these relationships 
matters. Strong partnerships with clients are based on  
the expectation that Beazley will be prepared to provide 
continuity of coverage over the years. Our clients understand 
that, for us to deliver on this expectation, we need to charge 
a fair premium to cover the risk even if, for a time, a 
competitor may be willing to write the same risks at an 
uneconomic rate. By adopting this approach, we have been 
able to provide clients with reliable cover year after year.

We believe that brokers add enormous value to clients in the 
purchase of insurance and reinsurance in the areas in which 
we specialise. All of our underwriters work constantly to 
strengthen their personal relationships with brokers and our 
broker relations team, headed by Dan Jones, keeps a close 
watch on our corporate broker relationships. We understand 
that the best insurance products in the world will not realise 
their potential without the support and advocacy of well 
informed brokers. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

7

Our key differentiators continued

Diversified business

For our shareholders, Beazley aims to 
deliver sector leading returns on equity 
with relatively low volatility. The key  
to this performance over time is the 
balance of Beazley’s portfolio across 
specialist classes driven by different 
cycles. This enables us to target an 
average combined ratio of 90% with  
low volatility and to underwrite more 
premium and have more invested 
assets per dollar of capital than our 
peers. We assess the merits of writing  
a new line of business very carefully 
with an eye to the effect on the 
diversification of our portfolio. 

Our approach goes well beyond 
diversification by line of business.  
We also diversify by geography and size 
of clients (smaller risks are often less 
volatile over the insurance cycle than 
larger risks). In addition, our business  
is a balance of ‘short-tail’, meaning that 
claims usually emerge within a year of 
the policy’s inception, and ‘medium-tail’, 
which means that claims on average 
take up to six years to crystallise fully.

The evolution of our portfolio by line  
of business and the impact this 
diversification has had on our combined 
ratio over the past five years can be 
seen in the charts opposite. 

  Life, accident & health

 Marine

With an experienced team of leading 
underwriters who have been together 
since the early 1990s, our personal 
accident and specialty life business  
is written on both an insurance and 
reinsurance basis and covers a number 
of niche classes, including sports 
disability. The business was acquired  
by Beazley in 2008 and has grown  
since then organically and through 
further acquisition.

We help insure in excess of 20% of the 
world’s ocean-going tonnage and are 
the pre-eminent leader of voyage and 
tow business in the London market.  
We insure 30% of the top 200 oil and 
gas companies and are a major lead  
for upstream energy clients. We have 
extensive experience insuring a wide 
variety of cargoes including project,  
fine art and specie.

 Political risks & contingency

 Property

In addition to traditional lines such as 
contract frustration, expropriation and 
credit, we insure a growing number  
of businesses against terrorism and 
political violence. Our contingency team 
is one of the strongest in the London 
market. We also specialise in event 
cancellation – writing everything from 
weddings to World Cups.

We’ve protected clients ranging  
from Fortune 1000 companies to 
homeowners through 21 years of 
natural and man-made catastrophes. 
We underwrite this business through 
three platforms – Lloyd’s, the US and 
Singapore – with a business focus on 
commercial property, engineering and 
construction risks and select 
homeowners’ business.

 Reinsurance

 Specialty lines

The reinsurance team specialises in 
writing worldwide property catastrophe; 
per risk; aggregate excess of loss and 
pro-rata business; and casualty clash. 
More than 80% of our top clients have 
reinsured with us for 20 years or more.

Specialty lines comprises management
liability and professional liability risks, 
including cyber liability, underwritten  
for clients on both a primary and excess 
basis in North America, Europe and 
around the world. Our US clients are 
served both by our underwriters at 
Lloyd’s and, on an admitted basis,  
by our local US-based underwriters.

For further details 
go to page 120

8

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

 Managed gross premiums growth by division $m

Being Beazley

2,500

2,250

2,000

1,750

1,500

1,250

1,000

750

500

250

0

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

Life, accident & health
Reinsurance

Specialty lines

Marine

Political risks & contingency

Property

 Diversified portfolio achieves consistent combined ratio through market cycles

160%

140%

120%

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

2009

Lines of business

Diversified portfolio

2010

2011

2012

2013

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

9

 
High performing culture
Our people have built Beazley’s success and this year we asked for their 
thoughts on how we can continue to be a place that attracts, retains and 
develops the best. With their input we created a series of statements that 
describe how we do things at Beazley – not just now, but also in the 
future. We didn’t get an external agency to write them or tell us what 
they should be – they came directly from our people. We call them 
Being Beazley.

Bold

We’re forward looking, take bold leaps and 
don’t always take the path people expect 
to ensure we deliver for our customers, 
our people and our shareholders.

“ I’m proud we look at differentiating 
ourselves by offering something more 
than just money in the event of a claim. 
On many lines of business we also offer 
risk management and loss control advice 
to clients – because prevention is better 
than cure.”

Steven Chang
Claims team leader

Friendly

We’re friendly, approachable and support 
each other.

“ I joined as an underwriting assistant  
in specialty lines in April 2013 and my 
experience as a new joiner has been like 
nothing I’ve experienced elsewhere –  
I’ve found Beazley people to be genuinely 
helpful and friendly.”

Amy Bryan
Underwriting assistant

Expert

We’re experts in what we do, using our 
specialist knowledge and skills to add value.

“ As experts we focus on niches and aim  
to understand them better than any of our 
competitors – our Beazley Flight, Beazley 
Breach Response and Kidnap & Ransom 
products are all great examples of this.”

Matt Holmes
Head of energ y

Deliver

We give straight answers promptly and 
deliver on our promises.

“ I’m so proud to be part of a team that rose 
magnificently to the challenge of handling all 
the claims from superstorm Sandy, and as 
a result were recognised for excellent claims 
service by our brokers and at the Insurance 
Insider Awards.”

Anthony Hobkinson
Group head of claims

10 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Creative

We value good ideas and insights wherever 
they come from – we have a contagious 
energy to do things better.

“ I love the fact that I work for an organisation 
that gives us the chance every day to share 
our ideas and join in discussions through  
our online ideas portal.”

Lila Rymer
Head of political risks & trade credit – US

Passionate

We are not obsessed with hierarchies or 
status – we’re just passionate about what 
we do.

“ We’ve got so much that we’re passionate 
about – our people, our service, our 
products, our innovation.”

Valerie Novak
Office coordinator

Honourable

We do the right thing. Not because a rule 
book tells us to, but because it’s the right 
thing to do.

“ We have a strong focus at Beazley on being 
a responsible business and I like the fact 
that we’re supported to give back and get 
involved in our communities.”

Dharmesh Patel
Head of finance – Asia Pacific

 Beazley: a great place to work

It’s our people who shape and make our 
organisation so we constantly seek their 
input – whether it’s through our ideas 
online portal B-Hive, Q&A sessions with 
the executive, lunch and learn sessions, 
or by completing the Great Place to Work® 
official survey every two years. 

In 2013, 87% of our people completed 
the survey, against an industry benchmark 
of 70%. This gives us the chance to hear 
what they think about working at Beazley, 
find out what we are all doing well and 
where we could focus more.

To be considered a great place to work 
you must score over 70%. When we took 
the survey in 2011 we achieved this with 
a score of 76%. However this year the 
score increased, with 83% of our people 
agreeing Beazley is a great place to work 
– a result we are very proud of. 

Open communications play a key part  
in this result and we work hard to ensure 
our people are kept informed and 
involved from our weekly news update,  
so they have their finger on the pulse on 
what’s happening in the industry and 
within Beazley, to our annual strategy 
events ensuring everyone knows how  
we are progressing and what our future 
plans are.

We also focus on developing and training 
so our people are given the best possible 
opportunities to develop their careers. 
This year we delivered over 400 initiatives 
and courses.

During the year we also continued  
our focus on diversity to maximise the  
benefit of the varied backgrounds and 
personalities that make up Beazley.  
We strongly believe that a diverse 
workforce makes for a more adaptable 
and successful organisation.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

11

Chairman’s statement
The benefits of Beazley’s diversified portfolio can 
be seen in the relative stability of our combined 
ratio through widely varying claims scenarios.

Dennis Holt
Chairman

I am pleased to report that your company delivered an  
excellent performance in 2013, achieving a return on average 
shareholders’ equity of 21% (2012: 19%).

This performance was underpinned by a combined ratio  
of 84% (2012: 91%). A low incidence of catastrophe losses 
contributed to this, but strong underwriting results were not 
confined to catastrophe-exposed lines of business. Earnings 
per share rose to 52.4c and net tangible assets per share rose 
14% to 248.3c. Beazley’s share price during the year reflected 
the strong performance of the business, climbing 52%. 

The board is pleased to announce a second interim dividend  
of 5.9p per ordinary share plus a special dividend of 16.1p  
per ordinary share. Together with the first interim dividend of  
2.9p this takes the total dividends declared in 2013 to 24.9p 
per ordinary share (2012: first interim dividend of 2.7p,  
second interim dividend of 5.6p plus a special dividend of 8.4p, 
totalling 16.7p).

It has been said that running a successful insurance business 
is easy to describe but hard to execute. Beazley’s vision is  
to become, and be recognised as, the highest performing 
specialist insurer. In making progress towards this goal we are 
frequently evaluating and reappraising our business mix, while 
ensuring that the overall level of risk grows proportionately  
with the company’s capital base.

The strong performance of our marine division in 2013, 
described by Clive Washbourn on page 24, is illustrative of  
our approach. Premium rates for war risks, including piracy, 
have declined sharply as attacks in vulnerable sea lanes, 
particularly off the Horn of Africa, have diminished. But we  
have simultaneously been able to increase our marine liabilities 
book substantially on the back of rate rises triggered in part  
by the Costa Concordia loss, the largest in marine history. With 
a well diversified book of business, which now also includes 
aviation risks as well as marine and energy risks, the team is 
able to make the adjustments needed to maintain profitability.

12 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Innovation is a key element of our 
strategy. As existing lines of business 
mature and new competitors crowd in,  
a specialist insurer such as Beazley must 
constantly look for new ways to enhance 
the value it offers to brokers and clients.

Dividend policy and capital management
The board strategy is to grow the dividend by between 5% and 
10% per year and this has always been achieved. In addition, 
our capital management strategy is to carry some surplus 
capital to enable us to take advantage of growth opportunities 
that may arise; this is further supported by our fully undrawn 
banking facility. Given our growth plans and profitability, we  
are targeting a surplus capital buffer in the range of 10-20%.  
To the extent that we have surplus capital substantially outside 
of this range, the board will consider means to return this 
capital to shareholders, as evidenced by the fact that we have 
paid special dividends in four of the last seven years.

Outlook
Achieving profitable growth is not easy in the current insurance 
market and as we signalled at half year we see a number of 
markets in which we operate becoming more competitive.

That said, we do see profitable opportunities for moderate 
premium growth within our existing risk appetite in the course 
of 2014. In the board’s view, Beazley remains on track towards 
the achievement of its vision.

Dennis Holt
Chairman

5 February 2014

This approach, replicated across the company, supports 
efficient capital management. The benefits of our diversified 
portfolio can be seen in the relative stability of the company’s 
combined ratio through widely varying claims scenarios. Over 
the past five years, Beazley has achieved a group combined 
ratio averaging 90%, including an underwriting profit in 2011, 
one of the worst years in history for insured natural 
catastrophes. 

Innovation is also a key element of our strategy. As existing  
lines of business mature and new competitors crowd in,  
a specialist insurer such as Beazley must constantly look for 
new ways to enhance the value it offers to brokers and clients. 
This sometimes takes the form of new products – Beazley has 
been a pioneer in offering clients expert services in response  
to a claim, where such services are more relevant and valuable 
than a financial indemnity. But innovation also occurs daily in 
the interactions between underwriters and brokers to cover  
the more challenging risks.

To innovate in this way requires a high level of underwriting 
expertise and experience, which Beazley unquestionably 
possesses. In my two years to date as chairman of the company 
I have been delighted to see the company’s continuing success 
as a magnet for talent in our industry. This applies not only  
to underwriting but also to the other disciplines, including  
high quality claims service, in which brokers and clients expect  
us to excel. 

Beazley is fortunate to possess not only a seasoned senior 
management team, but considerable bench strength across  
its operations. The rewards of the company’s leadership are 
aligned to the long term performance of the company through  
a long term incentive plan with demanding performance targets 
tied to the growth of net asset value per share. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

13

Chief executive’s statement
Our combined ratio in 2013 was the best we 
have reported since becoming a public company.

Andrew Horton
Chief executive

Beazley’s businesses delivered an excellent result in 2013, 
generating a profit before income tax of $313.3m (2012: 
$251.2m) on gross premiums of $1,970.2m (2012: $1,895.9m). 
Our combined ratio of 84% (2012: 91%) is the best we have 
reported since becoming a public company at the end of 2002. 
While we were aided by a benign claims environment, this  
was also testament to a focus on underwriting profitability  
that has sustained Beazley’s performance throughout the 
company’s history. 

With a longstanding commitment to profitability first and growth 
second, we have nevertheless continued to identify attractive 
growth opportunities. Specialty lines, our largest division, grew 
net premiums by 7% to $708.0m, buoyed by rate rises of 3%. 
Property, our second largest division, saw growth in net 
premiums of 12% and delivered a contribution to profits of 
$65.2m, the largest in the division’s history. Property rates rose 
by 3% and, across the company, rates rose on average by 1%.

These two divisions account for the vast majority of business 
we underwrite locally in the United States, our largest market 
and one that is now home to 340 Beazley employees and the 
location of ten Beazley offices. We saw the growth of our locally 
underwritten US premiums accelerate in 2013, increasing by 
17% to $451.8m. 

Prior year reserve releases contributed $218.0m to our 
underwriting result (2012: $126.0m). A consistent approach  
to reserving has long been an important feature of our business 
model, enabling us to make prior year reserve releases as 
claims crystallise.

14 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

 
Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Profitable growth in the current market is by no means plain 
sailing. At the half year, we identified increasingly competitive 
headwinds from a number of sources. In particular, there  
has been an influx of new capital from pension funds into  
the reinsurance market, which will continue to depress  
rates, particularly for peak zone US catastrophe cover. Our 
reinsurance division, representing 11% of our total gross 
premiums, saw rates on renewals fall by 3%. With offices in 
Munich, Singapore and, most recently, Miami (serving cedants 
in Latin America) our reinsurance team is still able to grow by 
focusing increasingly on the development of non-US business. 

Our marine division continued to deliver very impressive 
underwriting results in 2013 in the face of stiff competition, 
particularly in the hull market, achieving a combined ratio  
of 72% (2012: 75%). 

Much of our success as a company – and particularly the 
consistency of our performance – has derived from the careful 
balance of our risk portfolio, comprising lines of business that 
are not correlated. Not all lines will perform well in all years, as 
illustrated in 2013 by the contrasting fortunes of our political 
risks and contingency division and our life, accident & health 
division. The former had a good year, accounting for 7%  
of group premiums but almost 17% of group profits. By contrast, 
life, accident & health’s combined ratio of 125% reflected 
challenging market conditions in Australia (to which we  
have responded with significant rate rises) and continuing 
uncertainty over the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act in the 
US, which depressed demand for the health and disability ‘gap 
protection’ cover we offer to the employees of US companies 
through their employers. We continue to see growth potential  
in 2014 in this market as the regulatory environment stabilises.

Claims activity
The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season was the first since 1994 to 
end with no major hurricanes and, overall, our claims experience 
has been relatively light. Our focus on providing high quality 
claims service remains very strong, however, and we were 
delighted that this was recognised in 2013 with two awards  
for our handling of claims in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy 
in October 2012. 

A landmark of a different kind occurred in late November, when 
our technology, media and business services team helped  
a client manage its first – and our 1,000th – data breach.  
Data breaches occur with high frequency and require a very 
specialised and multi-faceted response. Beazley is the only 
insurer to have established a dedicated business unit to help 
clients handle data breaches successfully – an important factor 
in the huge success of our Beazley Breach Response product. 

Investment performance
Government bond yields rose sharply in the US and Europe in 
2013, anticipating a reduction in the amount of quantitative 
easing by the US Federal Reserve. The rise in yields, the largest 
for several years, was detrimental to our investment portfolio 
and contributed to a reduction in our overall return, from 2% in 
2012 to 1% in 2013. Our alternative asset allocation contributed 
positively to the investment portfolio, with equity and credit 
funds performing especially well.

During 2013 we made some changes to the management of  
our investment portfolio by changing our relationship with 
Falcon Money Management. This should enable us to achieve 
lower investment management fees in future periods. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

15

 
 
Chief executive’s strategic report continued

Risk management
We continue to monitor closely the risks that could impact  
the group. Given the nature of our business, the key risks that 
impact financial performance arise from insurance activities. 
These include the potential for changes in the tort law 
environment that could affect multiple teams within our 
specialty lines division, as well as natural or man-made 
catastrophe losses impacting our short tail lines of business. 
Alongside these insurance risks, the success of the group 
depends on managing the risks to the execution of its strategy. 
The board continues to receive a suite of risk information to 
help it mitigate these and the other risks, which are described 
in more detail on page 47. 

Growth opportunities
We have a clear preference for developing organic growth 
opportunities but we would consider acquisition opportunities, 
on an exceptional basis. In 2013 we continued to plant the 
seeds of future growth, hiring talented individuals who in our 
judgement will be able to help us expand into new geographies 
or lines of business.

Latin America has not historically been a major source of 
business for Beazley underwriters, but the rapid evolution  
of many of the region’s insurance and reinsurance markets  
led us to reappraise opportunities in the region in 2012 and 
early 2013. In July we opened an office in Miami to focus  
on the development of reinsurance business in Latin America, 
headed by Paul Felfle. And in December we announced the 
appointment of Ricardo Ortega as head of business 
development in Latin America, based in Rio de Janeiro. With 
significant infrastructure investments now under way in Brazil 
and elsewhere, construction and engineering risks present  
one area of opportunity among many.

We continue to see substantial growth opportunities in Europe. 
In the course of 2013, the European Union took further steps 
towards the adoption of a tighter regulatory regime for data 
breach notification that will result in the EU being far more  
like the United States in this respect, increasing the appeal  
of our market leading cover for this risk. And in May we 
welcomed Matthew Norris, one of the most experienced 
technology underwriters in the London market, to join our 
growing European team focused on small scale professional 
indemnity business. 

The insurance needs of small technology, media and consulting 
companies in Europe are evolving rapidly and we see significant 
growth opportunities in this sector, working closely with brokers.

Our marine division also began to reap the benefit of recent 
senior level hires. In its first full year of trading, our aviation 
team, under the leadership of David Oates, wrote business 
worth $28.7m. Premiums for marine liability business, headed 
by Phil Sandle, rose from $14.7m to $25.9m. 

Our largest market is and will remain the United States. We 
write a large volume of predominantly large scale US risks from 
the Beazley box at Lloyd’s, but we also made good headway  
in 2013 in building our smaller scale business written locally  
in the US. The head of our specialty lines division, Adrian Cox, 
relocated to Chicago in August, for a two year secondment, to 
become chair of the US Management Committee and oversee 
our US operation.

Product innovation remains very important to us and to the 
brokers we do business with. In September our political 
violence team in London launched Beazley Flight, one of  
a new generation of insurance-based solutions that offer clients 
specialist response services in the event of a claim. We believe 
Beazley Flight to be the most comprehensive emergency 
evacuation cover currently on the market, providing expert 
advisory and evacuation service in a range of crisis scenarios.

Of course the Lloyd’s market itself is well known as a source  
of innovation in insurance, so it was gratifying in May to be  
able to participate in an initiative that stands to increase the 
attractiveness of Lloyd’s to large scale buyers of construction 
and engineering insurance. Beazley is one of four Lloyd’s 
insurers to form the Construction Consortium at Lloyd’s. 
Through the consortium we will be able to provide capacity  
for the largest projects, up to a maximum of $166m per risk, 
offering an alternative to the largest non-Lloyd’s insurers.

Broker relations
Great products and skilled underwriters are necessary but  
not sufficient conditions for success in our business. Strong 
broker relationships are also critical. We work with brokers at 
multiple levels and are constantly looking for ways to improve 
our service and enhance the value we provide. Unlike many 
insurers, we make an effort to include our claims professionals 
in many of our broker meetings as we believe that the 
knowledge and skills of our claims staff are important 
differentiators for Beazley.

16 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Responsibility for managing our strategic relationships with key 
broking firms falls to our broker relations team, headed by Dan 
Jones. In the course of 2013, we have continued to see efforts 
by brokers to streamline the placement process and reduce  
the number of carriers they routinely do business with. We are 
happy to participate on broker panels and in other arrangements 
that do not curtail our discretion in writing, or declining, 
individual risks.

Solvency II
After very extensive deliberations, Solvency II is now scheduled 
to come into force on 1 January 2016. As described in earlier 
communications, we have invested heavily in preparing for the 
new regime and are confident we will be ready. 

***

This has been a year of wide ranging achievements at Beazley 
and I am very grateful to all of our employees, working in often 
challenging markets, who have made these achievements 
possible. But the culture and shared values that bind our people 
together are in many ways even more important than individual 
accomplishments, although harder to describe. 

Every two years, we have a valuable opportunity in the form of 
the Great Place to Work® survey to test perceptions in this area. 
In 2013, 87% of our people completed the survey. According to 
the definition adopted by the survey organisers we were already 
a great place to work, with a score in 2011 of 76%. But this 
increased sharply last year, with 83% of respondents agreeing 
that Beazley was a great place to work. 

I believe that this measure, which we have included as one  
of our key performance indicators on page 5 of this report, is 
intimately related to our financial success as measured by the 
other key performance indicators. A specialist insurer such as 
Beazley relies heavily on the skills and versatility of its people  
to succeed; and a business that is seen so positively by its 
people enjoys a major competitive advantage.

Andrew Horton
Chief executive

5 February 2014

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

17

Q&A with the chief executive
Andrew Horton reviews Beazley’s  
performance and describes the risks  
and opportunities he foresees in 2014.

Andrew Horton
Chief executive

Q It’s been a very benign year for catastrophe 

losses. How much did this contribute to your 
underwriting result?

A Five of our six divisions achieved strong underwriting 

profits last year and much of this contribution – notably from 
our specialty lines, marine and political risks & contingency 
divisions – came from non-catastrophe exposed lines of 
business. The benign catastrophe experience did, however, 
enable us to release more catastrophe related reserves that 
might not otherwise have been available.

Q You’re giving a lot of money back to 

shareholders this year. Are there no attractive 
opportunities to invest it in the business?

A I think our position has been clear and consistent.  

We hold a capital surplus over and above regulatory 
requirements. Our preferred use of capital is to deploy it on 
opportunities to underwrite profitably. However there will be 
times in the cycle when the group will generate excess capital 
and not have the opportunity to deploy it. At such points the 
board will return capital to shareholders.

This is one of those times. We do see opportunities for growth 
and we expect our business to grow by approximately 5% in 
2014. We have taken steps to ensure that we have sufficient 
capital available to support this growth. But I also believe that 
an important part of our job is to manage our capital efficiently 
and to return funds to shareholders when they exceed our 
needs, prudently quantified.

Q Major new sources of competition are 

emerging in reinsurance from insurance-linked 
securities. How much of a challenge does this pose 
for Beazley?

A I believe that the pension funds that have been allocating 

funds to reinsurance are here to stay, so we need to think of this 
as a long term change affecting our business. 

Our treaty reinsurance division currently accounts for about 
11% of our business and we actually buy more reinsurance than 
we sell. At the January 1 renewals this year, our reinsurance 
underwriters saw premium rates fall by approximately 15% for 
US business and 10% for non-US business. That said, rates are 
falling from historically high levels and, on the plus side, our 
property and marine divisions have secured significant savings 
on their reinsurance purchases.

So the influx of new capacity into reinsurance markets is 
certainly having an impact on our business. Looking ahead,  
it may make it more difficult near term for us to grow in 
reinsurance. And over time the availability of cheaper 
reinsurance will have a knock-on effect on pricing in the direct 
insurance market, but I don’t expect to see that happening  
in the coming year.

18

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Q Recent steps taken by the US Federal Reserve 

are seen as heralding the end of practically free 
money. As interest rates edge up, will premium 
rates for your medium tail business head down?

A We maintain a substantial investment portfolio in excess 

of $4bn. The ratio between this and our shareholders’ equity  
is approximately 4:1, so a 1% investment return translates into 
a 4% return on equity. Clearly, therefore, higher interest rates 
are good for our business.  

That does not prevent short term fluctuations occurring of the 
kind we saw in the first half of last year. Then investment 
returns fell temporarily due to mark to market losses in our  
fixed income holdings caused by rising interest rates. 

Looking ahead, I am sure we will come to see downward 
pressure on premium rates in certain lines of business as 
interest rates move up. But we don’t expect that to happen  
for a couple of years and, in 2014, we expect rates for our 
specialty lines division to increase slightly. 

Q How efficient do you think the placement 

process is for the business Beazley specialises in? 
Are there measures brokers and underwriters  
can take to make it more efficient, for the benefit 
of clients?

A I think there are opportunities to make placement more 

efficient and we support them, as long as they don’t unduly  
limit our underwriting discretion. For example, many brokers  
are establishing panels of insurers with expertise and 
experience in particular lines of business. This narrows the 
number of insurers the broker needs to market a particular  
risk to, while ensuring – we would hope – that the insurers  
that do get shown the risk are experts in the field. We have 
joined a number of these panels.

Q Your life, accident & health division had  

a tough year in 2013. How do you see 2014 shaping up?

A We expect the combined ratio of our life, accident & health 

division to improve significantly in 2014. Since we began to 
expand in these lines of business through the acquisition of 

Momentum Underwriting Management in 2008, we have 
recognised the need to invest. In 2011, we acquired two further 
businesses in Australia and we have been seeking to build  
a strong business from the ground up in the US.

In Australia claims increased in 2013 in line with a more 
challenging economic environment. Working closely with our 
largest client, we were able to secure renewal terms reflecting 
this, putting us on a sound footing going forward. 

Some of our investments have taken longer to bear fruit  
than we would have liked. In the US, uncertainties over 
implementation of the Affordable Care Act have dogged our 
progress. For example, the so-called ‘employer mandate’ in the 
Affordable Care Act – which requires all businesses with more 
than 50 full time employees to provide health insurance for 
their employees – has been delayed until 2015. This matters to 
our business because we focus on ‘gap protection’ insurance to 
employees of companies who may wish to buy supplementary 
cover over and above the cover their employers give them. 

Q Do you see mergers and acquisitions 

reshaping your markets, and can we expect 
Beazley to be a participant in that process?

A We have seen a lot of interest from non Lloyd’s insurers in 

the Lloyd’s market over the past year. I am not at all surprised. 
The reasons we like Lloyd’s – and do more than 90% of our 
business through our Lloyd’s syndicates – are not a secret. 
Others have cottoned on to them too. Through Lloyd’s brokers 
and thanks to a global system of licences, Lloyd’s underwriters 
have access to a very diverse range of insurance and 
reinsurance business. This diversity also permits a high level  
of capital efficiency, because the more diverse and uncorrelated 
your risk exposures are, the less capital you need to maintain  
to underwrite them safely. 

So I think there are good reasons for non Lloyd’s insurers to be 
interested in obtaining a presence at Lloyd’s. For us at Beazley, 
M&A is not our preferred route to growth. We have grown  
mainly organically throughout our history and, as long as we  
can continue to be a magnet for talent in our industry, organic 
growth should continue to work well for us. That doesn’t mean 
that attractive acquisition opportunities may not arise. It just 
means that we will continue to be very circumspect in 
evaluating them.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

19

 
 
Performance by division
A successful year, with a strong and  
broad-based underwriting performance.

  Life, accident & health

 Marine

 Political risks & contingency

Christian Tolle
Head of life, accident & health

Clive Washbourn
Head of marine

Adrian Lewers
Head of political risks & contingency

Combined ratio (%) 

Combined ratio (%) 

Combined ratio (%) 

150

120

90

60

30

0

51
74

49
58

2013

2012

80

60

40

20

0

33
42

38
34

2013

2012

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

45
5
2013

40
12

2012

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m
100.3
96.1

2012
$m
94.4
75.3

(17.9)
74%
51%

(2.7)
58%
49%
125% 107%
–

(1%)

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m

2012
$m
315.9 311.2
282.1 283.1

83.0
34%
38%
72%
(5%)

83.4
42%
33%
75%
–

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m

2012
$m
131.2 116.6
110.1 102.3

54.4
5%
45%
50%
(1%)

53.5
12%
40%
52%
(1%)

20 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Neil Maidment
Chief underwriting officer

  Property

 Reinsurance

 Specialty lines

Mark Bernacki
Head of property

Patrick Hartigan
Head of reinsurance

Adrian Cox
Head of specialty lines

Combined ratio (%) 

Combined ratio (%) 

Combined ratio (%) 

125

100

75

50

25

0

44
40

48
53

2013

2012

100

80

60

40

20

0

29
63

31
18

2013

2012

100

80

60

40

20

0

36
61

37
61

2013

2012

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Claims ratio

Expense ratio

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m

2012
$m
371.4 376.7
308.7 275.7

22.0
65.2
53%
40%
44%
48%
84% 101%
6%

3%

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m

2012
$m
221.6 188.6
171.5 146.7

90.7
18%
31%
49%
(3%)

21.9
63%
29%
92%
5%

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written
Results from  
operating activities
Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio
Rate change

2013
$m

2012
$m
829.8 808.4
708.0 659.6

53.1
61%
36%
97%
3%

76.3
61%
37%
98%
3%

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

21

Life, accident & health
A challenging year but positive long term outlook.

Portfolio mix

PA direct
PA reinsurance
Life direct
Life reinsurance
Sports disability

49%
29%
17%
3%
2%

Gross premiums written ($m) 

120
100
80
60
40
20
0

.

1
8
7

.

9
6
8

.

9
7
6

.

4
4
9

.

3
0
0
1

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$100.3m

Gross premiums written

Christian Tolle
Head of life, accident & health

22 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Beazley’s life, accident & health division, led by Christian Tolle, 
had a challenging year, particularly in the United States and 
Australia, recording a combined ratio of 125% (2012: 107%)  
on premiums of $100.3m (2012: $94.4m).

The largest segment of the portfolio – the business underwritten 
in London on both an insurance and reinsurance basis – 
continued to earn a profit, although rates have softened for  
the treaty reinsurance business that accounts for the majority 
of this book. The division is a leader in the London market for 
personal accident business and has played a formative role  
in the recent growth of the specialist life market at Lloyd’s. 
Beazley’s life syndicate, syndicate 3622, focuses on renewable 
group life business that cannot readily be placed in the 
standard market.

We have built a strong team in the US, with a focus on providing 
gap protection – supplementary health and disability insurance 
cover – to employees of organisations who are concerned about 
the limits of cover provided under their corporate benefit plans. 
Changes in the healthcare marketplace due to the Affordable 
Care Act (ACA) make gap protection insurance a market that  
is likely to grow.

The slow pace of the roll-out of the ACA has caused demand  
for gap protection cover to grow less rapidly to date than 
anticipated. We believe the longer term outlook is positive but  
in 2013 the investments we continued to make to establish  
this business exceeded the premiums earned. We now have  
an array of well designed products available in 49 states and 
we expect demand to grow significantly in 2014. 

Our Australian business has two main components. We write 
personal accident risks through selected Lloyd’s coverholders, 
and disability insurance offered to the members of 
superannuation funds, as the country’s government-supported 
retirement funds are known. This business was originally 
underwritten by Australian Income Protection, a managing 
general agency that Beazley acquired in 2011. Some of these 
accounts have incurred severe losses and we have taken 
corrective action with significant premium rate rises for 2014 
renewals.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

23

Marine
Our underwriters have repeatedly demonstrated 
an ability to make a healthy return in difficult 
markets and 2013 was no exception.

Portfolio mix

Energy
Hull & miscellaneous
Cargo
Aviation
War
Liability
Kidnap & ransom

37%
22%
14%
9%
9%
8%
1%

Gross premiums written ($m) 

320

240

160

80

0

.

0
5
6
2

.

7
1
6
2

.

2
4
7
2

.

2
1
1
3

.

9
5
1
3

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$315.9m

Gross premiums written

Clive Washbourn
Head of marine

24 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The marine division, led by Clive Washbourn, delivered another 
strong performance in 2013, achieving a combined ratio of 72% 
(2012: 75%) on premiums that grew 2% to $315.9m, largely 
owing to an expansion of the division’s marine liability business 
and the first full year of premiums from aviation business.

The division underwrites a broad book of marine hull, cargo, 
liability and war risks, as well as a large and growing energy 
account. Aviation was added to the mix in 2012, with the arrival 
of a seasoned team headed by David Oates. We will also begin 
underwriting satellite business later this year, when Denis 
Bensoussan joins the team.

Premium rates for hull insurance were weak in 2013, in a 
shipping market dogged by overcapacity and a poor freight 
market. On a global basis maritime trade remained subdued, 
with many ships in lay-up. Large swathes of the cargo market 
suffered the same problem, with container traffic being 
particularly affected.

Our success is based on our underwriters’ ability to identify 
good risks in niches that other insurers find unattractive.  
These opportunities can occur anywhere in the world: London’s 
dominance of the marine insurance market and Beazley’s 
strong broker relationships ensure that we see them. Tuna 
fishing vessels off the west coast of South America, Canadian 
ferry boats and Namibian research vessels are examples of 
attractive risks written last year.

In 2013, our offshore energy portfolio accounted for 37% of  
the marine division’s premiums. At $115.5m, energy premiums 
were 8% down from the previous year due to competitive 
market conditions. Policy count, however, continues to increase 
and the team has been rebalancing the portfolio, growing the 
international portion to offset catastrophe-related business in 
the Gulf of Mexico. The latter now accounts for around 18% of 
the portfolio. As a whole, the offshore energy account now has 
a broader geographic and risk spread than in prior years.

We saw strong growth in our marine liability business, headed 
by Phil Sandle, who joined us in April. This business nearly 
doubled in size from $14.7m to $25.9m. Rates have risen since 
the Costa Concordia disaster and, for the first time since 2004, 
we participated in the International Group’s main reinsurance 
program, the largest risk to be placed annually in the marine 
market.

Our aviation team enjoyed a good first year, with strong support 
from Lloyd’s brokers enabling them to achieve an income of 
$28.7m. At a time of intense competition for the business of  
the largest airlines, Beazley’s aviation team has sought to build 
a diverse portfolio including tier 2 and tier 3 airlines, private jets 
and general aviation risks. The strong focus on individual risk 
selection that has characterised our marine business applies 
equally to aviation.

Another speciality focus of the division is marine construction 
business, where we are a market leader, insuring most of the 
world’s major shipyards. This business continued to be 
profitable in 2013 and, despite a depressed freight market,  
all the yards we insure continued to have full order books.

The war risks market, which in recent years has largely focused 
on covering shipping against pirate attacks off the Horn of 
Africa, continued to be very competitive. Security has been 
tightened significantly on most vessels, deterring attacks and 
contributing to a sharp fall in premium rates. Attacks have 
meanwhile intensified in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa, but 
shipping volumes are far lower there than off the east coast. 
Nevertheless the war risks account remains very profitable. 

Not all the business we transact comes to us through Lloyd’s 
brokers. Over several years, Steve Smyth has built excellent 
relationships with regional brokers in the UK to generate UK 
cargo business underwritten from offices in Birmingham, 
Manchester, Ipswich and Leeds. In May Beazley’s UK marine 
cargo products were added to the Acturis online broker trading 
platform, increasing still further the ease of doing business  
with Beazley. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

25

Political risks & contingency
Continued international expansion in core  
business lines contributes to a combined  
ratio of 50%.

Portfolio mix

Political
Terrorism
Contingency

37%
34%
29%

Gross premiums written ($m) 

150

120

90

60

30

0

.

6
7
2
1

.

9
0
0
1

.

5
2
0
1

.

6
6
1
1

2

.

1
3
1

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$131.2m

Gross premiums written

Adrian Lewers
Head of political risks & contingency

26 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The political risks & contingency division, (PCG), performed  
well in 2013, delivering a combined ratio of 50% (2012: 52%) 
on gross premiums of $131.2m (2012: 116.6m). 

The division, led by Adrian Lewers, focuses on three main lines 
of business, all of which have deep roots at Lloyd’s: political 
risks and trade credit; terrorism (which includes a wide array  
of political violence risks); and event cancellation, the mainstay 
of the Lloyd’s contingency market. The majority of the division’s 
business is underwritten in London, but PCG has been active  
in building a local presence in other markets around the world 
where attractive business opportunities are to be found,  
a process that continued in 2013.

Political risks and trade credit business grew strongly in the 
course of the year, accounting for 37% of the division’s 
premiums, or $49.3m (2012: $37.0m). In the trade credit  
arena, our underwriters focus on non-traditional single buyer 
transactions. We protect exporters, investors and the banks 
that finance them against force majeure acts of government 
such as confiscation, expropriation and nationalisation,  
as well as embargo and non-payment risks. 

The largest global brokers handle many of these major 
accounts, but in addition there is an active group of smaller, 
specialist brokers with whom we also have close relationships. 
High quality service is essential to all brokers in these business 
lines: claims are infrequent but, when they occur, they tend  
to be large and complex. 

Claims also commonly take some time – up to three years  
– to materialise after the business is underwritten. In 2013,  
we were able to release $39.4m from prior year reserves set 
aside to cover political risks and terrorism claims from Syria, 
Libya and Nigeria, as well as credit claims from the 2008 
financial crisis, that have developed more favourably than  
our original reserving approach had assumed. 

Broadening our product range to help businesses protect their 
people in the face of these risks, we launched Beazley Flight, 
which we believe to be the broadest emergency evacuation 
insurance cover available in the market today. The policy 
provides expert advisory and evacuation services in three 
scenarios: a deteriorating political environment that puts a 
client’s employees at serious risk; a natural catastrophe that 
presents a severe threat; and a medical emergency. Cover  
can also be included for kidnap and personal accident risks. 

The third major segment of PCG’s business, contingency 
insurance, enjoyed a successful year, with weather-related 
claims – the principal cause of event cancellations – lower than 
the previous year. Contingency premiums rose 10% to $37.9m, 
and we were delighted to receive two major insurance industry 
awards for our handling of the event cancellation claim for  
the 2012 New York marathon, following superstorm Sandy. 

We continued to build our access to business which doesn’t 
come to the London market in 2013. Crispin Hodges moved  
to Paris from Singapore in April 2012 and swiftly built strong 
relationships with French brokers based on the quality and 
speed of underwriting service that Beazley can provide. In 
2013, we wrote $5.8m of business in France, little or none  
of which would have been seen by our London-based 
underwriters. Mathilde Lecontre, a highly experienced political 
risks underwriter, joined the team in December. 

Growth affords us continuing opportunities to invest in people 
and we have been able to broaden opportunities for many of 
our team members in 2013. As is common practice at Beazley, 
our underwriters and claims professionals work very closely 
together and individuals sometimes move from one discipline  
to another. This was the case for Michael Lum, who moved from 
our claims team in London to join our political risks underwriting 
team in Singapore. 

Our terrorism team experienced increased competition in 2013 
and premiums remained broadly flat when compared to 2012, 
despite evidence that terrorism and political violence remain 
very real threats to business in many parts of the world. 

Looking ahead, we will continue to seek attractive growth 
opportunities at Lloyd’s and in other markets, recognising that, 
while the latter typically take longer to mature, they also help 
balance the volatility of the large scale business that we 
underwrite in London. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

27

Property
Strong performance across our portfolio in 
2013 led to us recording our highest profit since 
the property division was established in 1992.

Portfolio mix

59%
Commercial property
Small property business 18%
Jewellers & homeowners 14%
9%
Engineering

Gross premiums written ($m) 

400

320

240

160

80

0

.

4
4
9
3

.

5
2
8
3

.

4
9
5
3

.

7
6
7
3

4

.

1
7
3

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$371.4m

Gross premiums written

Mark Bernacki
Head of property

28 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

We also underwrite construction business – commonly known 
in the US as builders’ risk business – through teams located  
in Atlanta and Singapore. As the US economy continues to gain 
pace, we expect to see increasing demand for this cover,  
while in Singapore the main driver of demand is continuing 
infrastructure investment across South East Asia. 

Claims experience across the division was generally benign  
in 2013, but not universally so, with storm losses in Mexico 
impacting our Lloyd’s open market book. We reserve prudently 
for catastrophe losses and were able to realise $33.7m in prior 
year reserve releases in 2013. 

Our vision for the property division dovetails with Beazley’s 
corporate vision: we aspire to become, and be recognised as, 
the highest performing specialist property insurer. This entails 
strong relationships with the brokers upon whom we rely for 
business. The expertise and global reach of Lloyd’s brokers in 
particular is critical to our success and we will continue to work 
hard to foster these relationships, offering decisive underwriting 
and high quality service to meet their clients’ needs.

The property division, led by Mark Bernacki, played a significant 
role in Beazley’s strong performance in 2013, achieving a 
combined ratio of 84% (2012: 101%) and contributing $65.2m 
to group pretax profit.

The Lloyd’s market has access to a wide range of property 
business from around the world and over the years Beazley  
has built a diversified portfolio, including large scale risks 
underwritten individually on a subscription basis. Beazley was 
the lead underwriter on 61% of this ‘open market’ business in 
2013, supported by our wordings and claims expertise as well 
as by our underwriting talent. This leadership position enables 
us to set terms and conditions for the majority of business  
we underwrite. Rates rose by 1% on this portfolio in 2013  
and net premiums increased by 16% to $139.4m.

Lloyd’s is also an important market for small scale property 
business placed through delegated binding authorities granted 
to approved Lloyd’s coverholders around the world. For Beazley, 
most of this ‘covers’ book derives from the US and UK and 
includes our UK jewellers block account – a sector in which  
we are a market leader. It also includes $5.9m of business  
from the small business consortium (SBC), a Lloyd’s facility  
we acquired in 2011. Overall, our covers book grew 24% in 
2013 to $59.3m, supported by rate rises of 5%.

Mid sized property business is less frequently seen by 
underwriters in London. In the US we underwrite this business 
on a surplus lines basis. We re-engineered the excess and 
surplus (E&S) business significantly in 2013, to improve 
profitability. Premiums fell 12% to $76.7m as a result of more 
selective underwriting; however we do see growth opportunities 
in this area in the year ahead. In addition, we write a small 
volume of high value homeowners business in the US, which 
continued to perform well in 2013. 

The final component of the property division’s portfolio  
is construction and engineering business. The large risks  
– which include some of the world’s largest and most complex 
projects – are underwritten in London. In 2013, we were 
delighted to join forces with three other Lloyd’s market 
specialists in construction and engineering insurance to form 
the Construction Consortium at Lloyd’s, a facility that enables 
Lloyd’s to compete head to head with the largest non-Lloyd’s 
insurers. Through the consortium, we can offer capacity of  
up to $166m per project on a probable maximum loss basis.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

29

Reinsurance
Record performance with premiums growing 
17% supported by new geographical platforms.

Portfolio mix

Property catastrophe
Property risk
Miscellaneous
Casualty clash

78%
19%
2%
1%

Gross premiums written ($m) 

250

200

150

100

50

0

.

4
4
7
1

.

3
8
7
1

.

6
8
8
1

6

.

1
2
2

.

2
2
4
1

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$221.6m

Gross premiums written

Patrick Hartigan
Head of reinsurance

30 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

In Singapore, where we began writing treaty business in 
January, we were able to access good opportunities in Asia, 
especially in Thailand where rates had been affected by the 
impact of the catastrophic floods in 2011: the office underwrote 
$4.5m in 2013, its first year. In Munich we underwrote $22.0m 
in business from European insurers that we would not normally 
have seen at Lloyd’s.

We continued our geographical diversification in 2013  
with the opening of our Miami office, headed by Paul Felfle,  
in July. Miami has been growing as a hub for Latin American 
reinsurance business, on which the office will focus.

The investment of new capital into the reinsurance market  
from non traditional sources bears witness to the market’s 
continuing vitality and attractiveness. We continue to focus  
on gaining better access to our clients through our broader 
geographical platform and on enhancing the value of our 
product to our long term clients. 

The reinsurance division, led by Patrick Hartigan, performed 
very strongly in 2013, achieving a record contribution to group 
profits on gross premiums that grew 17% to $221.6m. Taking 
advantage of still attractive premium rates, the team delivered 
a combined ratio of 49% (2012: 92%).

Premium rates increased modestly at the 1 January, 2013 
renewals, confirming our expectation that the heavy losses from 
2010, 2011 and from superstorm Sandy in October 2012 would 
prevent rate declines in what was otherwise a well capitalised 
reinsurance market. Later in the year, we began to see rates 
fall, particularly for US business, as new capital from pension 
funds, among other sources, continued to impact the market. 
Overall, rate on renewals fell by 3%.

Overall, claims have developed favourably during 2013 and  
we have only moderate exposure to the floods in Europe during 
May, the hailstorms in Germany and the floods in Calgary  
during July. We were also able to release $55.6m from prior 
year reserves set aside to cover superstorm Sandy, and the 
2011 Tohoku Japanese earthquake and Thai floods. 

Our focus remains with our core clients in the larger insurance 
economies of the US, Europe and Japan but we have also 
expanded our underwriting platform geographically by 
establishing offices in key reinsurance hubs such as Singapore 
and Miami. This enables us to get closer to regional clients in 
Asia and Latin America respectively and provide greater service 
to the brokers in these areas.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

31

 
 
Specialty lines
Rate rises and recovering US economy 
lead to strong growth.

Portfolio mix

Technology, media 
& business services
Management liability
Small businesses
Professions
Healthcare
Treaty
Crime

22%

21%
20%
19%
12%
5%
1%

Gross premiums written ($m) 

900
750
600
450
300
150
0

.

2
4
5
7

.

0
4
4
7

.

2
1
1
7

.

4
8
0
8

.

8
9
2
8

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

$829.8m

Gross premiums written

Adrian Cox
Head of specialty lines

32 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Beazley’s largest division grew strongly in 2013, writing  
gross premiums of $829.8m (2012: $808.4m), buoyed by  
a recovering US economy and rates that for the second year  
in a row rose by an average of 3% across our portfolio.

An additional and growing demand is for the prompt and 
effective handling of data breaches, as well as for third party 
liability cover. US healthcare providers suffer data breaches 
very frequently, requiring them to mail breach notifications  
to more than 120,000 affected individuals every week.

The division provides management liability, professional liability 
and medical malpractice insurance to professionals and 
companies around the world, but with a strong focus on the  
US – by far the world’s largest market for these specialist lines 
of business. 

We see continuing growth opportunities in the healthcare 
industry in the years ahead, not just in the US, where we have 
developed and honed the service offerings that are now in  
high demand, but in the UK and elsewhere as well. 

A recovering US economy in 2013 benefited our business. 
Demand for the products and services we provide grew steadily, 
particularly in high growth sectors such as healthcare and 
technology, towards which Beazley’s business is increasingly 
oriented. 

Looking forward, moderate economic growth should also 
benefit our claims experience. The incentive to sue service 
providers is higher when companies are under severe economic 
pressures and tends to abate when conditions improve. 
That said, our markets remain competitive with an abundance 
of capacity. The healthy profits that many insurers have made  
in short tail, catastrophe exposed lines of business, such as 
commercial property, have enabled some of them to postpone 
the day of reckoning when they would have to raise rates for  
the medium tail lines that comprise our book.

Prior year reserve releases contributed $46.6m (2012: $51.5m) 
to the division’s profits in 2013, continuing the moderate 
decline we have seen since 2011. This is in line with our 
expectations. We continue to maintain a consistently 
conservative approach to reserving across the cycle. 

Highlights of the past year included continuing growth into the 
US healthcare industry, measured both in premiums and in the 
reputation among brokers and clients enjoyed by our team.  
The most recent addition to the team occurred in October when 
Laura Sunderlin joined us to grow our life sciences business.

Beazley is now a well respected and well established specialist 
insurer of healthcare-related liability exposures in the US,  
with a broad product range. Our focus is clear: we work with 
healthcare providers that seek to make constant and 
measurable improvements to patient safety and quality of care 
and incentivise them to do so. We support them by not only 
offering tailored insurance cover for professional liability  
risks, but for management and regulatory liability as well,  
all underwritten from the same team.

Last December, our technology, media and business services, 
or TMB, team passed an important landmark, assisting a client 
with its first – but the team’s 1,000th – data breach. Demand is 
strong, not only from healthcare clients but from organisations 
of all types that hold large volumes of personally identifiable 
customer information. Beazley is unique among insurers in 
having a business unit – BBR Services – dedicated exclusively 
to helping clients handle data breaches successfully. We expect 
our leadership position in this fast growing market will stand  
us in good stead as demand continues to grow both inside and 
outside the US.

Although we expect the US to remain by far our largest  
market for the foreseeable future, we see continuing growth 
opportunities elsewhere as well. Many professional services 
firms – particularly in the sectors we focus on such as law firms 
and architects and engineers – have been relatively slow to 
globalise. But the move is now happening in earnest and, as a 
Lloyd’s-based insurer with offices around the world, we are well 
placed to provide the global cover and service our clients need. 

Management liability risks also affect companies on a global 
basis, but the crucible for these risks remains the US, where  
the plaintiffs’ bar can be relied on to develop new theories of 
liability to test in court. As the leading insurer of directors’ and 
officers’ risks in the London insurance market, we aim to keep 
pace with the risks our clients face. In particular directors and 
officers are increasingly becoming involved in investigations 
and inquiries by regulatory authorities, which can prove 
extremely costly. In December we launched three new policy 
wordings to take account of this growing risk.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

33

 
Financial review  
Group performance
The exceptional underwriting 
result supports our highest ever 
special dividend.

Martin Bride
Finance director

Statement of profit or loss

Gross premiums written
Net premiums written

Net earned premiums
Net investment income 
Other income
Revenue

Net insurance claims
Acquisition and administrative expenses
Foreign exchange loss/(gain)
Expenses

Share of loss of associates
Finance costs
Profit before tax
Income tax expense
Profit after tax

Claims ratio
Expense ratio 
Combined ratio 

Rate increase
Investment return

Movement
%
 4%
 9%

 8%
 (48%)
 47%
5%

 (8%)
 10%

1%

25%
 35%
23%

2013
$m
1,970.2
1,676.5

 1,590.5 
 43.3 
 36.4 
 1,670.2 

 719.1 
 619.3 
 3.0 
 1,341.4 

(0.3)
(15.2)
313.3
(49.3)
264.0

45%
39%
84%

1%
1.0%

2012
$m
1,895.9
1,542.7

1,478.5
82.6
24.7
1,585.8

778.4
563.5
(11.0)
1,330.9

(0.5)
(3.2)
251.2
(36.6)
214.6

53%
38%
91%

3%
2.0%

Premiums
Gross premiums written have increased by 4% in 2013 to $1,970.2m. Rates on renewal business on average increased by 1% 
across the portfolio, with more significant increases in property of 3% and specialty lines of 3%. We have continued to adjust our 
underwriting appetite in areas where competition is most intense.

Our portfolio by business division has remained broadly unchanged from 2012. We continue to operate a diversified portfolio by 
type of business and geographical location, and have grown our business across five of the six divisions during 2013.

34 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

 
 
Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Insurance type

Business by division

Insurance
Reinsurance

84%
16%

Premium written by claim settlement term

Geographical distribution

Short-tail
Medium-tail

51%
49%

Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks 
& contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines

Europe
Worldwide
USA

5%
16%
7%

19%
11%
42%

15%
31%
54%

The charts above highlight how we achieve diversification by product mix, geography and type of business.

Premium retention rates
Retention of business from existing brokers and clients is a key feature of Beazley’s strategy. It enables us to maintain a deep 
understanding of our clients’ businesses and requirements, affording greater insight into the risks involved in each policy we write 
and enabling us to price risk most accurately to achieve profit. The table below shows our retention rates by division compared to 
2012.

Retention rates*
Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Overall

*  Based on premiums due for renewal in each calendar year.

2013
92%
86%
67%
74%
88%
80%
81%

2012
91%
87%
71%
79%
86%
86%
84%

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

35

Financial review  
Group performance continued

Cumulative renewal rate changes since 2001 (%) 
Rate change
250

200

150

100

50

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

12

13

Underwriting year

Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property

Reinsurance
Specialty lines
All divisions

Rating environment
Premium rates charged for renewal business increased by 1% during 2013 across the portfolio (2012: an increase of 3%). The 
most notable rate increases were seen in our specialty lines division where they have been at 3% for the last two years; prior to 
this rate increases had not been seen for six years. Increases were the most significant in professional indemnity for architects 
and engineers (6%), management liability (6%) and treaty (3%). Other significant rate increases were seen within our property 
division (3%), with the most significant being in homeowners (6%) and US commercial property (6%). Rate change on renewals in 
all other divisions were down by 1% in political risks & contingency and life, accident & health, 3% in reinsurance and 5% in marine.

Reinsurance purchased
Reinsurance is purchased for a number of reasons:
• to mitigate the impact of catastrophes such as hurricanes;
• to enable the group to write large or lead lines on risks we underwrite; and
• to manage capital to lower levels.

The amount the group spent on reinsurance in 2013 was $293.7m (2012: $353.2m). The group as a whole is a net buyer of 
reinsurance and has benefited from falling premium rates on renewals. In addition, specific reductions in reinsurance spend were 
seen in the property division where we were able to achieve more efficiency in our reinsurance buying through the consolidation  
of parts of the property and catastrophe programme. 

Combined ratio
The combined ratio of an insurance company is a measure of its operating performance and represents the ratio of its total costs 
(including claims and expenses) to total net earned premium. A combined ratio under 100% indicates an underwriting profit. 
Consistent delivery of operating performance across the market cycle is clearly a key objective for an insurer. Beazley’s combined 
ratio has decreased in 2013 to 84% (2012: 91%). Our combined ratio in 2013 is lower than the historic average due to relatively 
low levels of claims activity with no significant catastrophes or adverse development on prior years claims. It is worth pointing  
out that the calculation of the combined ratio for Beazley includes all claims and other costs to the group but excludes foreign 
exchange gains or losses. We believe this represents the most transparent and useful measure of operating performance as it 
ensures that all of the costs of being in business are captured, whether directly linked to underwriting activity or not.

Claims
Overall, claims have developed favourably during 2013, with claims notifications at normalised levels. We have only moderate 
exposure to the floods in Europe during May and the hailstorms in Germany, as well as the floods in Calgary in July.

36 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Whole account reserve strength 
within our target range (%) 

% above actuarial estimate
10

5

0

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

Financial year

Reserve releases
Beazley has a consistent reserving philosophy, with initial reserves being set to include risk margins that may be released over 
time as and when any uncertainty reduces. Historically these margins have given rise to held reserves within the range 5-10% 
above the actuarial estimates which themselves include some margin for uncertainty. The margin held above the actuarial 
estimate was 8.2% at the end of 2013 (2012: 6.9%).

Reserve monitoring is performed at a quarterly ‘peer review’, which involves a challenge process contrasting the claims reserves 
of underwriters and claim managers, who make detailed claim-by-claim assessments, and the actuarial team, who provide 
statistical analysis. This process allows early identification of areas where claims reserves may need adjustment.

During 2013 we were able to make the following prior year reserve adjustments across divisions, with the overall net impact being 
a release to the group.

Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Total
Releases as a percentage of net earned premium

2013
$m
(4.6)
47.3
39.4
33.7
55.6
46.6
218.0
13.7%

2012
$m
0.5
27.7
33.1
6.2
7.0
51.5
126.0
8.5%

The increase in reserve releases was driven by our property and reinsurance divisions which benefitted from the benign natural 
catastrophe environment in 2012, and favourable development on our reserves set up following the 2010 and 2011 natural 
catastrophes.

Reserve releases decreased in specialty lines in 2013, which was in line with our expectations. The 2013 releases came mainly 
from the 2003 through 2006 underwriting years as these years continued their exceptional development.

The political risks and contingency reserve releases were driven by continued favourable development on our financial crisis-
exposed 2006 – 2008 underwriting years, while our Marine division benefitted from continued strong performance on all years.

Refer to the financial statements for information on reserve releases and loss development tables.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

37

Financial review  
Group performance continued

Acquisition costs and administrative expenses
Business acquisition costs and administrative expenses increased during 2013 to $619.3m from $563.5m in 2012. The 
breakdown of these costs is shown below:

Brokerage costs
Other acquisition costs
Total acquisition costs
Administrative expenses
Total acquisition costs and administrative expenses

2013
$m
337.2
94.3
431.5
187.8
619.3

2012
$m
313.0
95.5
408.5
155.0
563.5

Brokerage costs are the premium commissions paid to insurance intermediaries for providing business. As a percentage of net 
earned premium they remain between 21% and 22%. Brokerage costs are deferred and expensed over the life of the associated 
premiums in accordance with accounting standards.

Other acquisition costs comprise costs that have been identified as being directly related to underwriting activity (e.g. underwriters’ 
salaries and Lloyd’s box rental). These costs are also deferred in line with premium earning patterns.

Administrative expenses comprise primarily personnel costs, IT costs, facilities costs, Lloyd’s central costs and other support 
costs. These increased in 2013 due to performance linked remuneration and the write off of renewal rights assets relating to the 
life, accident & health and specialty lines divisions.

Investment performance
Investment income for the year ended 31 December 2013 was $43.3m, or an annualised return of 1.0%, compared with $82.6m 
or 2.0% over the same period in 2012. Lower returns, compared with the previous year, were driven by a rise in bond yields in the 
US, as the federal reserve indicated early in the year that it would taper its quantitative easing programme, finally confirming in 
December that the tapering would start in 2014. In the UK yields rose, as the economy recovered, and in Europe yields followed 
the lead set by the US. 

Our core portfolio returned 0.5% in 2013. Government bonds, especially in the US, performed poorly (the comparable BoAML  
1-5 year government index produced a negative return in 2013), but the credit component of our portfolio performed well, as 
credit spreads narrowed significantly in 2013. At year end AAA/AA government and agency bonds remained approximately 47%  
of the overall portfolio, while cash and cash equivalents and credit assets comprised 41%.

The main challenge to our investment performance in 2013 was US federal reserve policy, and we expect that, if the US economy 
maintains its upward trend, federal policy and a rising yield environment will continue to make investment conditions challenging 
for managers of fixed income portfolios in 2014.

The remaining 12% of our portfolio continues to be held in a diversified portfolio of capital growth assets, which returned 4.7%  
in 2013. This portfolio continues to be managed by our associated company, Falcon Money Management Limited.

Duration of the fixed income portfolio at year end was 1.8 years (2012: 1.9 years) with a yield to maturity of 1.4% (2012: 1.0%).

We are changing our relationship with Falcon Money Management. In 2014, they will cease managing our core portfolio but will  
be actively involved in the management of our capital growth assets. This should enable us to lower investment management fees 
in future periods.

38 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Comparison of returns – major asset classes ($m)

Beazley group funds ($m) 

80

60

40

20

0

69.6

22.0

13.0

21.3

Capital growth portfolio

Core portfolio

2012

2013

6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

3,662

3,842

4,007

4,322

4,426

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Group funds including funds at Lloyd’s
Syndicate 2623, 3623 and 3622

Figures are taken from December of each year

The table below details the breakdown of our portfolio by asset class:

Cash and cash equivalents
Fixed income: sovereign and supranational
Investment grade credit
Other credit
Core portfolio
Capital growth assets
Total

Comparison of return by major asset class:

Core portfolio
Capital growth assets
Overall return

31 Dec 2013

31 Dec 2012

$m
 382.7 
 2,082.2 
 1,351.0 
 94.1 
3,910.0
516.3
4,426.3

%
8.7
47.0
30.5
2.1
88.3
11.7
100.0

$m
316.5
2,430.9
1,082.7
74.1
3,904.2
417.7
4,321.9

%
7.3
56.2
25.1
1.7
90.3
9.7
100.0

31 Dec 2013

31 Dec 2012

$m
21.3
22.0
43.3

%
0.5
4.7
1.0

$m
69.6
13.0
82.6

%
1.9
3.1
2.0

The funds managed by the Beazley group have grown by 2% in 2013, with financial assets at fair value and cash and cash 
equivalents of $4,426.3m at the end of the year (2012: $4,321.9m). The chart above shows the increase in our group funds since 
2009.

Tax
Beazley is liable to corporation tax in a number of jurisdictions, notably the UK and Ireland. Our effective tax rate is thus a 
composite tax rate between the Irish and UK tax rates.

In 2013, it was announced that the UK corporation tax rate will be reduced to 20% by 2015. This rate reduction in the UK tax rate 
has been applied to our UK deferred tax liability brought forward. This reduction in our deferred tax liability has offset our current 
year tax charge to create an effective tax rate of 15.7% for the year.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

39

Financial review 
Balance sheet management 

Summary statement of financial position

Intangible assets
Reinsurance assets
Insurance receivables
Other assets
Financial assets at fair value and cash and cash equivalents
Total assets

Insurance liabilities
Financial liabilities
Other liabilities
Total liabilities
Net assets
Net assets per share (cents)
Net tangible assets per share (cents)

Net assets per share (pence)
Net tangible assets per share (pence)
Number of shares*

2013
$m
 91.6 
 1,178.2 
 617.7 
 270.8 
 4,426.3 
 6,584.6 

 4,577.3 
 274.9 
 393.7 
 5,245.9 
 1,338.7 
266.5c
248.3c

160.6p
149.6p
502.2m

2012
$m

 (restated)**
115.1
1,187.3
578.0
246.6
4,321.9
6,448.9

4,483.8
315.0
445.6
5,244.4
1,204.5
240.5c
217.5c

147.5p
133.4p
500.9m

Movement
%
 (20%)
 (1%)
 7%
10%
 2%
 2%

 2%
 (13%)
(12%) 
 –
 11%
 11%
 14%

 9%
 12%
 –

*   Excludes shares held in the employee share trust and treasury shares.
** The restatement is in respect of the change to IAS 19. For further information,see note 1 in the ‘notes to the financial statement’ section.

Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of goodwill on acquisitions of $62.0m, purchased syndicate capacity of $10.7m, US admitted licences  
of $9.3m and capitalised expenditure on IT projects of $9.6m. During the year renewal rights in relation to specific business within 
the specialty lines and life, accident and health divisions have been fully impaired by $11.5m; therefore at 31 December 2013 
there is no carrying value remaining in respect of renewal rights within intangible assets. In addition, amortisation on IT 
development costs and renewal rights has contributed to the reduction in the group’s intangible assets.

Reinsurance assets
Reinsurance assets represent recoveries from reinsurers in respect of incurred claims of $978.4m, and the unearned reinsurance 
premiums reserve of $199.8m. The reinsurance receivables from reinsurers are split between recoveries on claims paid or notified 
of $253.7m and an actuarial estimate of recoveries on claims that have not yet been reported of $724.7m. The group’s exposure 
to reinsurers is managed through:
•  minimising risk through selection of reinsurers who meet strict financial criteria (e.g. minimum net assets, minimum ‘A’ rating  
by S&P). These criteria vary by type of business (short vs medium-tail). The chart on page 41 shows the profile of these assets 
(based on their S&P rating) at the end of 2013;

• timely calculation and issuance of reinsurance collection notes from our ceded reinsurance team; and 
• regular monitoring of the outstanding debtor position by our reinsurance security committee and credit control committee.

We continue to provide against impairment of reinsurance recoveries, and at the end of 2013 our provision had reduced to 
$14.5m (2012: $18.0m) in respect of reinsurance recoveries, following a partial recovery during the year in relation to Lehman Re.

40 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Reinsurance debtor credit quality

AA+
AA-
A+
A
A-
Collateralised
Others

5%
47%
36%
5%
2%
3%
2%

Insurance receivables
Insurance receivables are amounts receivable from brokers in respect of premiums written. The balance at 31 December 2013 
was $617.7m, an increase of 7% over 2012 ($578.0m). We continue to outsource the collection of our Lloyd’s broker premium 
balances to Randall and Quilter Investment Holdings plc, which operates within the Lloyd’s market as a specialist credit controller.

Other assets
Other assets are analysed separately in the notes to the accounts. The largest items included comprise:
• financial assets at fair value of $4,043.6m;
• cash and cash equivalents of $382.7m;
• deferred acquisition costs of $206.0m;
• profit commissions of $11.5m and other balances of $17.0m receivable from syndicate 623; and
• deferred tax assets available for use against future taxes payable of $8.7m.

Insurance liabilities
Insurance liabilities of $4,577.3m consist of two main elements, being the unearned premium reserve (UPR) and gross insurance 
claims liabilities.

Our UPR has increased by 7% to $956.8m. The majority of the UPR balance relates to current year premiums that have been 
deferred and will be earned in future periods. Current indicators are that this business is profitable.

Gross insurance claims reserves are made up of claims which have been notified to us but not yet paid and an estimate of claims 
incurred but not yet reported (IBNR). These are estimated as part of the quarterly reserving process involving the underwriters  
and group actuary. Gross insurance claims reserves have increased by 1% to $3,620.5m.

Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities comprise borrowings and derivative financial liabilities. The group utilises three long-term debt facilities:
•  in 2006 we raised £150m of lower tier 2 unsecured fixed rate debt that is payable in 2026 and callable in 2016. In 2013  

we bought back an additional £26.2m (2012: £47.3m). The initial interest rate payable is 7.25% and the nominal value of this 
debt as at 31 December 2013 is £76.5m (2012: £103m); 

•  a US$18m subordinated debt facility raised in 2004. This loan is also unsecured and interest is payable at the USD London 
interbank offered rate (LIBOR) plus 3.65%. These subordinated notes are due in 2034 and have been callable at the group’s 
option since 2009; and 

•  during September 2012 we issued a sterling denominated 5.375% retail bond under a £250m euro medium term note 

programme which raised £75m for the group and is due in 2019. This diversified the source and maturity profile of the group’s 
debt financing. 

A syndicated short-term banking facility led by Lloyds Banking Group Plc provides potential borrowings up to $225m. Under the 
facility $225m may be drawn as letters of credit to support underwriting at Lloyd’s. Of this, $175m may be advanced as cash 
under a revolving facility. The cost of the facility is based on a commitment fee of 0.6% per annum and any amounts drawn are 
charged at a margin of 1.75% per annum. The cash element of the facility will last for three years, expiring on 31 December 2016, 
whilst letters of credit issued under the facility can be used to provide support for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 underwriting years. 
The facility is currently unutilised.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

41

Financial review 
Capital structure

Capital structure 
Beazley has a number of requirements for capital at a group and subsidiary level. Capital is primarily required to support 
underwriting at Lloyd’s and in the US and is subject to prudential regulation by local regulators (PRA, FCA, Lloyd’s, Central Bank  
of Ireland, and the US state level supervisors).

Beazley is subject to the capital adequacy requirements of the European Union (EU) Insurance Groups Directive (IGD). We comply 
with all IGD requirements.

Further capital requirements come from rating agencies who provide ratings for Beazley Insurance Company Inc. We aim to 
manage our capital levels to obtain the ratings necessary to trade with our preferred client base.

Beazley holds a level of capital over and above its regulatory requirements. The amount of surplus capital held is considered on an 
ongoing basis in light of the current regulatory framework, opportunities for organic or acquisitive growth and a desire to maximise 
returns for investors.

The group actively seeks to manage its capital structure and continued to reduce its cost of debt in 2013. Our preferred use  
of capital is to deploy it on opportunities to underwrite profitably. However there may be times in the cycle when the group will 
generate excess capital and not have the opportunity to deploy it. At such points in time the board will consider returning capital  
to shareholders.

In 2013 Beazley acquired 5.0m of its own shares. These were acquired at an average price of 230p and the cost to the group  
was $17.7m.

Our funding comes from a mixture of our own equity of $1,338.7m alongside £76.5m of tier 2 subordinated debt, $18.0m 
subordinated long-term debt, a £75m retail bond and an undrawn banking facility of $225.0m as detailed on page 160.

The following table sets out the group’s sources and uses of capital:

Sources of funds
Shareholders’ funds
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Retail bond
Long-term subordinated debt 

Uses of funds
Lloyd’s underwriting
Capital for US insurance company

Surplus
Unavailable surplus*
Fixed and intangible assets
Available surplus
Unutilised banking facility

2013
$m

2012
$m

1,338.7
127.0
124.5
18.0
1,608.2

935.4
107.7
1,043.1

565.1
(150.8)
(97.6)
316.7
225.0

1,204.5
166.3
122.3
18.0
1,511.1

876.0
107.7
983.7

527.4
(145.0)
(122.1)
260.3
225.0

*   Unavailable surplus primarily represents profits earned that have not yet been transferred from the Lloyd’s syndicates. The cash transfers occur half-yearly in 

arrears and are reflected as unavailable until the cash is received into Beazley corporate accounts. In addition certain items other than fixed and intangible assets 
such as deferred tax assets are not immediately realisable as cash and have also accordingly been reflected as unavailable surplus.

42 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Individual capital assessment
The group is required to produce an individual capital assessment (ICA) which sets out the amount of capital that is required  
to reflect the risks contained within the business. Lloyd’s reviews this assessment to ensure that ICAs are consistent across  
the market.

The current capital assessment has been established using our Solvency II internal model which has been run within the  
ICA regime as prescribed by Lloyd’s. In order to determine the capital assessment, we have made significant investments in  
both models and process:
• we use sophisticated mathematical models that reflect the key risks in the business allowing for probability of occurrence, 
impact if they do occur, and interaction between risk types. A key focus of these models is to understand the risk posed to 
individual teams, and to the business as a whole, of a possible deterioration in the underwriting cycle; and 

• the internal model process is embedded so that teams can see the direct and objective link between underwriting decisions 
and the capital allocated to that team. This gives a consistent and comprehensive picture of the risk reward profile of the 
business and allows teams to focus on strategies that improve return on capital. 

The increase in our funds at Lloyd’s from £558.0m to £563.0m is in proportion to the increase in business planned and the 
changes in the economic conditions. These numbers are presented in the table on page 42 in US dollars, being $935.4m and 
$876.0m for 2014 and 2013 respectively, which have been translated at the spot exchange rate at reporting dates.

Solvency II
Beazley has set two guiding principles for Solvency II, namely:
• to develop a framework that can be used to inform management and assist with business decision making; and
• to hold an appropriate and efficient level of capital for the agreed risk appetite through risk identification and mitigation.

During 2013, Beazley has continued to embed the principles of Solvency II and the use of our internal model in our business.  
As well as providing the basis for Lloyd’s capital setting, our internal model is used extensively to inform risk management, capital 
allocation and decision making both on a routine and an ad hoc basis. In December, Lloyd’s confirmed that it assesses us as 
continuing to meet the principles of Solvency II as currently drafted. 

The Solvency II programme continues to oversee the development of our capability and engagement with regulators as they 
complete their assessment of our model and our overall readiness for Solvency II. The Central Bank of Ireland has continued  
to progress its pre-application review of our model which will be used for both individual and group capital setting purposes. 

Following the provisional agreement which has been reached between the European Parliament, the European Commission  
and European Council on the Omnibus II Directive, we now look forward with a greater degree of certainty to the recently revised 
implementation date for Solvency II of 1 January 2016. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s guidelines 
for the preparation of Solvency II provide for a lead in to implementation over the next two years. The work which we have already 
done in our programme to date leaves us well placed to respond to this final phase of Solvency II preparation.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

43

Financial review  
Capital structure continued

Group structure
The group operates across both Lloyd’s and the US through a variety of legal entities and structures. The main entities within the 
legal entity structure are as follows:
• Beazley plc – group holding company and investment vehicle, quoted on the London Stock Exchange;
• Beazley Underwriting Limited – corporate member at Lloyd’s writing business through syndicates 2623, 3622 and 3623;
• Beazley Furlonge Limited – managing agency for the five syndicates managed by the group (623, 2623, 3622, 3623 and 6107);
• Beazley Re Limited – reinsurance company that accepts reinsurance premium ceded by the corporate member,  

Beazley Underwriting Limited;

• Syndicate 2623 – corporate body regulated by Lloyd’s through which the group underwrites its general insurance business 

excluding accident and life. Business is written in parallel with syndicate 623;

• Syndicate 623 – corporate body regulated by Lloyd’s which has its capital supplied by third-party names;
• Syndicate 6107 – special purpose syndicate writing reinsurance business on behalf of third-party names;
• Syndicate 3622 – corporate body regulated by Lloyd’s through which the group underwrites its life insurance and  

reinsurance business;

• Syndicate 3623 – corporate body regulated by Lloyd’s through which the group underwrites its personal accident and  

BICI reinsurance business;

• Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. (BICI) – insurance company regulated in the US. Licensed to write insurance business in all  

50 states; and

• Beazley USA Services Inc. (BUSA) – managing general agent based in Farmington, Connecticut. Underwrites business on behalf 

of Beazley syndicates and BICI.

Beazley plc

Beazley Re Ltd

Beazley Group Ltd

Reinsurance
contract

Beazley Underwriting Ltd
(Corporate member)

Beazley Furlonge Ltd
(Managing agency)

Management

Beazley USA

Capital

Third party capital providers

Syndicate 623

Syndicate 2623

Syndicate 3622

Syndicate 3623

Quota share

Syndicate 6107

Beazley
USA
Services,
Inc.
(service
company)

Beazley
Insurance
Company,
Inc.
(admitted
insurance
company;
A rated)

Quota share and surplus treaties

44 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Operational update
Our operations are  
increasingly becoming  
a competitive advantage.

Ian Fantozzi
Chief operating officer

Beazley has seen significant premium growth over the last ten years, and we have developed a diversified underwriting portfolio 
that distributes globally, through 25 offices. To support this growth we have developed an efficient and scalable operating platform 
that through focused investment has increasingly become a competitive advantage. A differentiator has been our ability to deliver 
products more quickly to market whilst maintaining a high quality, responsive service to our clients and brokers.

We have been able to deliver excellent support for our business through the way we maintain consistency in operational standards 
throughout the group. This ranges from the Beazley look and feel across all our offices, to the rigour with which our systems 
capture accurate data to provide insightful reporting to support business decisions. 

Beazley is a specialist insurer and our success relies heavily upon the expertise of our underwriters and their ability to move 
quickly to meet client needs. A vital role of operations is to give our underwriters and claims professionals the tools and the 
support to do this job.

In order to achieve this, we continue to implement our operations strategy. This has five areas of focus:

Supporting growth initiatives – providing scalable and responsive operational support 
Beazley has four strategic growth initiatives – at Lloyd’s, in the US, in Europe, and in Asia Pacific. We continue to launch attractive 
new product lines – for example, Beazley Flight, and tailor coverage to best meet our clients’ needs, by offering packaged products 
such as Beazley Breach Response and our healthcare solutions.

In 2013, we made great progress in standardising business processes and consolidating underwriting IT platforms for our 
business at Lloyd’s, in the US and globally outside the US. Our systems and processes now provide better support for new product 
roll outs and enable greater ability to scale operational support for business growth opportunities. The investments that we have 
made to our processes and IT platforms will be key to supporting Beazley’s growth in the years to come. An area of particular focus 
in 2013 has been the upgrading of our IT infrastructure to increase network bandwidth for all our offices and to more efficiently 
manage our software through a move towards thin client computing.

It is important to provide a high quality working environment that is conducive to team working and thought leadership. Our offices 
are open plan, bright and airy, with a style and consistency that support our global brand. We strive to get the best quality working 
space at the best lease and facility cost. In 2013, we opened new offices in Miami and Dallas, further improving market access for 
our underwriters geographically.

Ensuring sustained profitability – maximising economies of scale through cost efficient processes  
and global resourcing 
Beazley is organised to a large degree around global underwriting and claims teams. This model has served us well in ensuring 
that products that succeed in one market can be swiftly introduced in others. However it is important that this does not result in 
back office systems and support resources becoming duplicative.

In pursuit of greater efficiency and consistency of operational service we continue to make great progress in centralising 
operations support or outsourcing where this brings further value. We want to make sure that operations and processing are done 
by appropriately skilled people, at the most cost effective location, whilst providing the best service levels. In 2013, we centralised 
the back-office support for our property division in the US and brought its products onto our strategic IT platform, BeazleyPro. This 
change had the dual benefit of reducing operational expense and enabling a more scalable and resilient support model for future 
business growth. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

45

Operational update continued

Operating within our agreed risk appetite – implementing consistent governance  
and service ownership groupwide
Effective risk management, described in more detail on page 47, requires clear visibility of the level of operational risk we 
maintain. Critical to supporting an effective control environment is consistency of ownership for operations support and the 
provision of management information.

As we continue to make our operational support more efficient, we have defined clear ownership for processes, establishing clear 
accountability for process execution and planning. This has simplified operational control reporting and strengthened our ability  
to provide a coordinated, rapid response to supporting business growth opportunities.

In 2013, we implemented a new enterprise risk management system. Coupled with new reporting capability from our strategic data 
warehouse, Beazley Intelligence, we can now more rapidly provide risk profiles for the group across a broad range of reporting criteria. 

Enabling product and service innovation – supporting innovation and providing tools  
that differentiate our service
Our strategy focuses on two types of innovation. Firstly, there is insurance product innovation, which requires an operational 
platform that facilitates an efficient product pipeline – from idea development through to product launch. Secondly, there is the 
development of new or enhanced tools and support services that enable our employees to perform optimally in their roles.

A major focus for us in 2013 has been strengthening our ability to take new product ideas more quickly from the drawing board  
to the underwriting stamp. We have built dedicated teams in both London and the US to coordinate the product innovation 
process, and then to bring all the operational components together for a successful market launch.

We continue to implement new technology to better support the use of mobile and tablet devices, reducing our reliance on  
paper and enabling better communications for our teams on a global scale. This technology has been making it easier for our 
underwriters to transact business. We have also been able to make all of our corporate governance meetings paperless.

Beazley Intelligence, our strategic data warehouse solution, continues to enable us to consolidate our trading data into a single 
source of management information. In 2013, we successfully migrated our US platform data into Beazley Intelligence. In 
combination with data gathered through our customer relationship system, we have started to gain valuable insights which help  
us further develop of our US distribution strategy.

Managing for performance – developing our talent and sourcing operational skills needed  
for a high quality service 
Growing across different markets entails greater operational complexity and a requirement for additional skills in our staff. We do 
not want to be limited to specific geographic pools of skilled individuals, such as project managers, IT specialists and business 
analysts. Some locations such as London also have higher unit costs both to hire and to accommodate employees. With this in 
mind, we continue to improve our sourcing channels to tap into different skilled resource pools. Where possible, if we can deliver  
a service competently from a remote location, we will aim to do so – better leveraging our more operational oriented locations, 
notably Connecticut and Dublin.

As with all Beazley talent we recognise the importance of developing attractive career paths. We want to equip our operations 
team with the right skills for the job. We routinely review our talent for potential skills gaps and then provide the most relevant 
training to ensure a high standard of service provision.

Looking ahead
It is most important that we maintain consistency in our approach to delivering high quality service and continually improving 
operational efficiency. The above five areas are core to our operational strategy, and we will continue to pursue these – creating 
competitive advantage through operational service provision and in our ability to react quickly and efficiently to new business 
opportunities.

46 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Risk management
The management of risk  
by our employees has been  
a key ingredient in the group’s 
success in 2013.

Andrew Pryde
Chief risk officer

2013 in review
Throughout 2013 all entities in the Beazley group have operated within risk appetite and there have been sufficient resources, 
both financial and personnel, to deliver the group’s business plan.

The risk management framework, which was revised in 2010 in preparation for the implementation of Solvency II, continues to 
operate effectively and has provided timely and trusted risk information to the group’s boards. There have been no major changes 
to the risk management framework in 2013, but it has evolved as required in order to keep pace with changes in the group’s risk 
profile and the environment within which the group operates. In particular, the theme this year has been to focus on further 
improving board and committee risk reporting.

The group’s boards and members of the executive committee met in May 2013 and, amongst other topics, discussed emerging 
and strategic risks. These were summarised into five categories, namely; socio-political risks, market conditions, distribution, 
talent and regulation. Developments in these areas, along with activity undertaken by Beazley, have been reported in the quarterly 
Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) report throughout the year.

The quarterly ORSA has been a feature at Beazley boards since 2010 and has become a valuable tool for the directors to 
understand current and prospective risks and capital requirements, and has helped the boards steer the strategic direction  
of the group. 

Another report that has developed into a valuable risk management tool is the risk management report to the remuneration 
committee. In this report, the design of the remuneration structure is reviewed from a risk perspective to test that it does not 
inadvertently reward inappropriate behaviour. The remuneration related calculations are also reviewed to confirm they are in line 
with the remuneration policy in light of the risk taken and results produced. 

During 2013, the board performed a review of Beazley’s product led operational structure from a risk perspective and has 
confirmed that it remains appropriate. The board also reviewed the oversight of Beazley’s global offices in the context of a product 
led, rather than a geographical, operational structure. Although some enhancements were introduced subsequent to the review, 
the board has confirmed that this governance framework is operating in line with expectations. 

Whilst the risk and capital teams were brought together in 2010 to better align risk assessment and risk quantification to drive 
improvements in decision making, Beazley’s internal model has been used extensively by the business since it was introduced in 
2004. In 2013, the internal model has been used to optimise further the reinsurance structure and to assess the appropriateness 
of natural catastrophe model changes and how the risk budget should be adjusted. Beazley’s internal model continues to be 
tested by an independent and external validator and the results of that work have been reported to the relevant boards within the 
validation report.

Risk training continues to be provided to the business with a tiered educational programme. In 2013, the second e-learning 
module, which is a scenario based approach to considering risk issues, was completed by all employees.

As in previous years, members of the risk management department have visited most Beazley offices to meet with members of 
staff. A theme from these office visits is that there is a consistent Beazley culture across the organisation within which the careful 
consideration of risk and reward is an important part. These risk behaviours have been a substantial ingredient in the group’s 
success in 2013.

Risk management philosophy
Beazley’s risk management philosophy is to balance the risks the business takes on, with the associated cost of controlling these 
risks, whilst also operating within the risk appetite agreed by the board. In addition, our risk management processes are designed 
to periodically monitor our risk profile against risk appetite and to exploit opportunities as they arise.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

47

Risk management continued

Risk management strategy
The Beazley plc board has delegated the executive oversight of the risk management department to the executive committee, 
which in turn has delegated immediate oversight to the risk and regulatory committee. The Beazley plc board has also delegated 
oversight of the risk management framework to the audit and risk committee and each subsidiary board has established a board 
risk committee. 

Clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are in place for the management of risks and controls, and all employees are 
aware of the role they play in all aspects of the risk management process, from identifying sources of risk to their part in the 
control environment. The impact of each risk is recorded in the risk register on a 1:10 likelihood of that risk manifesting in the next 
12 months. A risk owner has been assigned responsibility for each risk, and it is the responsibility of that individual to periodically 
assess the impact of the risk and to ensure appropriate risk mitigation procedures are in place. External factors facing the 
business and the internal controls in place are continually reassessed and changes are made when necessary. On an annual 
basis, the board agrees the risk appetite for each risk and this is documented in the risk framework document. The residual 
financial impact is managed in a number of ways, including:
• mitigating the impact of the risk through the application of controls;
• transferring or sharing risk through outsourcing and purchasing insurance and reinsurance; and
• tolerating risk in line with the risk appetite.

In addition, the following risk management principles have been adopted:
• risk management is a part of the wider governance environment;
• techniques employed are fit for purpose and proportionate to the business;
• it is a core capability for all employees;
• risk management is embedded in day-to-day activities;
• there is a culture of risk awareness, in which risks are identified, assessed and managed;
• risk management processes are robust and supported by verifiable management information; and
• risk management information and reporting is timely, clear, accurate and appropriately escalated.

Risk management framework
Beazley has adopted the ‘three lines of defence’ framework: namely business risk management, the risk management function 
and the internal audit function. Within business risk management, there are three defined risk and control roles: risk owner, 
control owner and control reporter. Each risk event is owned by the risk owner who is a senior member of staff. Risk owners, 
supported by the risk management team, formally perform a risk assessment twice a year, including an assessment of  
emerging risk.

Business Risk Management
Risk Ownership

– Identifies risk
– Assesses risk
– Mitigates risk
– Monitors risk
– Records status
– Remediates when required

Risk Management
Risk Oversight

–  Are risks being identified?
– Are controls operating effectively?
– Are controls being signed off?
– Reports to committees and board

Internal Audit
Risk Assurance

–  Independently tests control design
– Independently tests control operation
– Reports to committees and board 

48 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The risk management framework comprises a number of risk management components, which when added together describe 
how risk is managed on a day to day basis. The framework includes a risk register that captures the risk universe (57 risk events 
grouped into eight risk categories: insurance, market, credit, liquidity, operational, regulatory and legal, group and strategic), the 
risk appetite set by the Beazley plc board, and the control environment that is operated by the business to remain within the risk 
appetite. The following diagram illustrates the components of the risk management framework.

Risk appetite
(annual)

Risk assessment
(biannual)

Stress and scenario framework
(annual)

Risk profiles
(ad hoc)

Strategic and emerging risk
(annual)

Risk register

Control assessment 
(monthly)

Internal model

Key risk indicators
(quarterly)

Control performance 
aggregation (monthly)

Risk incidents 
reporting

Consolidated assurance 
report

Committees
1st line:  Underwriting, Investment, 

Operations, Executive committees

2nd line: Risk and regulatory, Risk committees
3rd line:  Audit committees
Boards

A suite of risk management reports are provided to the boards and committees to assist the senior and executive management  
to discharge its decision making responsibilities.

The internal audit function uses the risk management framework and the audit universe to develop its annual risk-based audit 
plan. The plan is based on, among other factors, the inherent and residual risk scores as captured in the risk register. Finally,  
a feedback loop operates, with recommendations from the internal audit reviews being assessed by the risk management 
function for inclusion in the risk register as appropriate.

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Risk management continued
The risks to financial performance

The board monitors and manages risks grouped into eight 
categories which cover the universe of risk that could affect 
Beazley and considers the following two to be the most 
significant.

Insurance risk
Given the nature of Beazley’s business, the key risks that 
impact financial performance arise from insurance activities. 
The main insurance risks can be summarised in the following 
categories:
• Market cycle risk: The risk of systematic mispricing of the 
medium tailed specialty lines business which could arise 
due to a change in the US tort environment, changes to  
the supply and demand of capital, and companies’ using 
incomplete data to make decisions. This risk would affect 
multiple classes within the specialty lines division across  
a number of underwriting years. The group uses a range  
of techniques to mitigate this risk including sophisticated 
pricing tools, analysis of macro trends, analysis of claim 
frequency and the expertise of our experienced underwriters 
and claims managers.

• Natural catastrophe risk: The risk of one large event caused 
by nature affecting a number of policies and therefore giving 
risk to multiple losses. Given Beazley’s risk profile, this could 
be a hurricane, major windstorm or earthquake. This risk  
is monitored using exposure management techniques to 
ensure that the risk and reward are appropriate and that  
the exposure is not overly concentrated in one area.

• Non natural catastrophe risk: This risk is similar to natural 
catastrophe risk except that multiple losses arise from  
one event caused by mankind. Given Beazley’s risk profile, 
examples include an act of terrorism, an act of war or  
a political event. This risk is monitored using exposure 
management techniques to ensure that the risk and  
reward are appropriate and that the exposure is not overly 
concentrated in one area.

• Reserve risk: Beazley has a consistent and conservative 
reserving philosophy. However, there is a risk that the 
reserves put aside for expected future losses turn out to be 
insufficient. This could be due to any of the three drivers of 
risk described above. The group uses a range of techniques 
to mitigate this risk including a detailed reserving process 
which compares, claim by claim, estimates established by 
the claim team with a top down statistical view developed by 
the actuarial team. A suite of metrics is also used to ensure 
consistency each year.

• Single risk losses: Given the size of policy limits offered  

on each risk, it is unlikely that the poor performance of one 
policy will have a material impact on the group’s financial 
performance.

Strategic risk
Alongside these insurance risks, the success of the group 
depends on the execution of an appropriate strategy. The main 
strategic risks can be summarised as follows:
• Shareholder expectation: There is a risk that Beazley does 
not meet its shareholders’ expectations. This is mainly 
mitigated through regular and transparent communication.

• Strategic decisions: The group’s performance would be 
affected in the event of making strategic decisions that  
do not add value. The group mitigates this risk through the 
combination of recommendations and challenge from 
non-executive directors, debate at the executive committee 
and input from the strategy and performance group (a group 
of approximately thirty senior individuals from across 
different disciplines at Beazley). 

• Environment: There is a risk that the chosen strategy  

cannot be executed because of the current environmental 
conditions within which Beazley operates, thereby delaying 
the timing of the strategy. 

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Governance

Financial statements

Other risks
The remaining six risk categories monitored by the board are:
• Market risk: This is the risk that interest rates, exchange 
rates and default rates move in an adverse direction. This 
risk is monitored by the investment committee.

• Operational risk: This risk is the failure of people, processes 
and systems or the impact of an external event on Beazley’s 
operations and is monitored by the operations committee.
• Credit risk: Beazley has credit risk to its reinsurers, brokers 
and coverholders of which the reinsurance asset is the 
largest. The underwriting committee monitors this risk.

• Regulatory and legal risk: This is the risk that Beazley does 
not operate in line with the relevant regulatory framework in 
the territories where it operates. Of the eight risk categories, 
the board has the lowest tolerance for this risk.

• Liquidity risk: This is the risk that the group does not have 
sufficient liquid funds following a catastrophic event. The 
investment committee monitors this risk which, given  
the nature of the asset portfolio, is currently small.
• Group risk: The structure of the Beazley group is not 

complex and so the main group risk is that one group entity 
operates to the detriment of another group entity or entities. 
Although this risk is currently small, the Beazley plc board 
monitors this risk through the reports it receives from  
each entity.

• Communication: Having the right strategy and environment 
is of little value if it is not communicated internally so that 
the whole group is heading in the same direction or if key 
external stakeholders are not aware of Beazley’s progress 
against its strategy.

• Senior management performance: There is a risk that 

senior management is overstretched or does not perform, 
which would have a detrimental impact on the group’s 
performance. The performance of the senior management 
team is monitored by the CEO and talent management  
team and overseen by the nominations committee.

• Reputation: Although reputational risk is a consequential 
risk, ie it emerges upon the occurrence of another risk 
manifesting, it has the potential to have a significant  
impact on an organisation. Beazley expects its staff to act 
honourably (one of seven ingredients of Being Beazley)  
by doing the right thing.

• Flight risk: There is a risk that Beazley is unable to deliver  
its strategy due to the loss of key personnel. Beazley has 
controls in place to identify and monitor this risk through 
succession planning.

• Crisis management: This is the risk caused by the 

destabilising effect of the group having to deal with a crisis 
and is mitigated by having a detailed crisis management 
plan.

• Corporate transaction: There is a risk that Beazley 

undertakes a corporate transaction which does not return 
the expected value to shareholders. This risk is mitigated 
through the due diligence performed, the financial structure 
of the transaction and the implementation activity.

Within the environmental risk event, the board monitors five 
categories of emerging and strategic risk on a quarterly basis, 
namely; socio-political risk, distribution, market conditions, 
talent and regulation.

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51

Corporate social responsibility
As an insurer we can exert a strong beneficial influence  
by promoting effective risk management. We see a clear 
correlation between forward looking businesses that  
have such controls in place and businesses that are good  
corporate citizens.

In continuing to build Beazley as a premier risk-taking business, 
we take our corporate, social and environmental responsibility 
seriously. We constantly consider the ethical implications  
of how we operate and put policies and procedures in place  
to sustain our commitment. 

Intrinsic to our culture is an ethical approach to business 
conducted by and towards all our stakeholders. The values  
that form the essence of our brand and our working culture  
are professionalism, integrity, effectiveness and dynamism.  
Our code of ethics comprises the staff handbook, the handling 
of personal data, whistle blowing, and financial crime policies. 
Our conflicts of interest policy provides clear guidance to staff 
on areas such as inducements and handling sensitive data.

During 2012 we undertook a detailed review of our corporate 
social responsibility strategy, encompassing the full range of 
our philanthropic, volunteering and environmental activities  
and programmes. Our aims were to:
• increase the value we provide for our beneficiaries;
• expand awareness within Beazley of the ways in which 

employees can contribute to local communities, as well  
as to broader philanthropic causes; and

• measure the impact of our contributions to ensure  

that we make best use of available resources.

Corporate social responsibility is a broad term, addressed  
at Beazley through a variety of entities:

CSR segment
Environment 

Community 

Marketplace, influence 

Where Beazley addresses these topics
responsible business committee 
– sustainability 
responsible business committee 
– community and charity 
responsible business committee 
– marketplace

Marketplace, ethical service broker relations and treating 

Diversity/equal opportunity
Health and safety 

customers fairly within compliance 
talent management 
Beazley shared services

The restructured responsible business committee, headed  
by Clive Washbourn, will focus on sustainability, community  
and charity and our influence in our marketplace. The other 
segments will be implemented elsewhere.

Day of service

For the third year in a row, Beazley employees  
across all US offices hosted a Day of Service where 
employees could directly contribute time to helping 
address the issues of homelessness and hunger in the 
communities in which we work. Over 75 employees 
from our Farmington (below) and other offices 
volunteered at food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, 
meal delivery services and more in their local 
communities.

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Governance

Financial statements

Intrinsic to our culture is an ethical 
approach to business conducted by and 
towards all our stakeholders. The values 
that form the essence of our brand and 
our working culture are professionalism, 
integrity, effectiveness and dynamism. 

Offices and furniture
Beazley works closely with its providers of office furniture and 
any refits to monitor savings and ensure that environmentally 
friendly materials and products are utilised whenever feasible. 
During the RFP process Beazley carefully evaluates and 
compares each supplier’s ‘green’ initiatives and gives 
appropriate weighting to the quality and consistency of a 
supplier’s program when making an award.

The Farmington office in Connecticut is due a refurbishment  
in early 2014 and Beazley will be removing and donating the 
used ancillary furniture.

In the UK head office, Beazley has increased its virtual 
conferencing facility, allowing for additional meetings with all 
locations and thus reducing the necessity for additional travel. 
Some US offices are also increasing their virtual conferencing 
facilities to allow for more meetings.

Office supplies and printing systems
By using recycled paper, we saved 315 trees and economised 
on our greenhouse gas emissions in 2013. We use multi-
function print devices where possible to reduce energy 
consumption and storage space. In 2013, in the London office 
we installed automatic handtowels in all rest rooms, decreasing 
waste paper output. In the US, increasing glass and mug use in 
pantries not already participating in this initiative, example San 
Francisco, helped us to reduce paper cup use.

Environment – sustainability 
We are both users of the environment and insurers of the 
impact of extreme weather conditions, so understanding and 
minimising our own impact on the earth is important to us as  
a company and as individuals. We seek to reduce not only our 
own impact on the environment, but also that of our suppliers 
by selecting organisations that adhere to high environmental 
standards. One of our nominated charities is the Conservation 
Fund.

Community and charity 
The community element of responsible business has many 
facets. It can include funding, sharing of skills, offering gifts  
in kind, and giving local people employment opportunities.

Beazley supports the Lloyd’s Community Programme, which 
provides a framework for Lloyd’s-based businesses to support  
a number of activities in east London, including reading and 
number partnering. (Our partner school is Canon Barnett 
Primary School.) Many teams within Beazley contribute to their 
local communities through volunteering days and all employees 
are able to maximise their donations to charity through the 
payroll giving scheme. 

Marketplace 
This is a new focus for Beazley. The aim is to recognise and 
enhance the positive influence our interactions as a business 
have on the wider community. A good example is the quality 
indicator return premium (QUIRP) programme run by our 
hospitals professional liability team. Hospitals that make 
measurable improvements in quality and patient safety  
metrics are reimbursed a proportion of their premiums.

Review of 2013 activities
Environmental responsibility
Beazley strives to achieve environmental best practices in 
the management of its global offices and in the acquisition 
of its goods and services. We continue to evaluate the 
environmentally responsible initiatives of our suppliers, 
encourage the use of public transport and video conferencing, 
monitor our carbon footprint and work towards reducing the 
latter where possible. In addition to measures we have put in 
place historically, in 2013 we made the following progress:

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Corporate social responsibility continued

Travel
We use Climatecars, who provide electric and hybrid vehicles, 
as the preferred car transportation company for our UK head 
office and we have installed a permanent charging point in our 
basement for them. Beazley US does not have a company-wide 
car service. Employees are encouraged to use public transport 
for their work commute, which is paid for as part of our 
employee benefits package.

GHG report for the UK head office for 2012 emissions
Beazley submitted case studies to Climatewise detailing the 
environmental measures taken. Commercial management 
produced a report which indicated a 7% emissions increase 
based on Scope 1 and Scope 3 GHG emissions. The increase  
is attributable to expansion of reporting scope including 
emissions associated with travel using a second taxi company 
(not previously reported).

We also track our carbon emission reductions from travellers 
who voluntarily downgrade from a higher cabin class on flights. 
In 2013, this occurred on transatlantic flights resulting in a 
saving of over 175 tonnes of CO2 which is calculated at 42%  
of emissions on these designated flights.

Note: The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reported are for the 
year 2012. This reflects the reporting cycle, whereby statistics 
for 2012 become available in 2013. Similarly, 2013 emissions 
will be reported in 2014. All GHG reports produced by Beazley 
are externally verified by appointed consultants.

Poppy appeal

Every year our London colleagues fundraise for the 
Royal British Legion to support the British armed 
forces past and present, and their families. This year 
we were honoured to fundraise on Poppy Day 
alongside serving members of the armed forces, 
raising over £3,000 for the charity.

GHG report for US for 2012 emissions
In the US we report emissions for our three main offices in 
Farmington, Boston and New York. In 2012, there was a 3% 
increase in emissions based on Scope 2 and Scope 3 GHG 
emissions. This is largely attributable to increased electricity 
consumption and increased travel by leased cars due to  
a higher headcount.

GHG reporting for rest of world
The emissions reported above account for 98% of Beazley 
employees in the UK and 67% of Beazley employees in the US.
For our offices located elsewhere, due to the size and nature  
of these leased premises it is not practical to measure  
GHG emissions.

Environmental policy
Beazley will produce an environmental policy in 2014 with 
achievable targets to decrease its impact on the environment 
through the business activities and environmental measures 
and initiatives.

Landfill
Landfill remains the responsibility of the landlord, but Beazley 
actively participates in recycling at all its global offices and 
works alongside the landlord’s CSR policy (where published)  
to achieve objectives.

Community and charity
We are passionate about supporting and getting involved in  
our communities.

2013 has been a year of focus and action for our community 
and charity committees. We’ve joined up globally and expanded 
our UK committee to become the UK and Rest of World (RoW) 
community and charity committee, in addition to our US 
committee, to ensure we are involving all our people and 
communities around the world. These committees are made up 
from people across the business and now have a global remit 
which is to:

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Financial statements

Encourage and support Beazley people to participate in charitable  
and community activities:
• we’ve recognised the fundraising efforts of our people and 
supported our charity partners by donating over $250,000 
this year;

• our people have spent over 300 hours working and helping 

Over 75 employees volunteered their time at a variety of 
charities focused on the causes of homelessness and hunger  
in Boston, Hartford, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia 
and San Francisco. We plan to keep building our momentum 
and running initiatives such as our month of service to ensure 
we are making a positive impact.

our communities; and

•  we’ve climbed three peaks, baked cakes, run en masse, 
mentored children in our communities and run through  
the night to name but a few employee initiatives.

Manage Beazley’s corporate charitable partnerships
This year we’ve supported Feeding America, the Conservation 
Fund, Concordia, Trees for Cities and Rwanda Aid as our chosen 
charitable partnerships. We’ve supported them through 
corporate funding as well as our people’s volunteering efforts  
to raise additional funds for them.

Oversee Beazley’s response to large scale disasters
Beazley people are committed to supporting communities 
affected by unexpected large scale disasters. We gave to the 
Red Cross when superstorm Sandy hit New York and our people 
worked in their communities to help their neighbours get back 
on their feet. We also donated to the counselling and support 
services which cared for the community after the Newtown,  
CT school shootings.

Specifics:
Beazley engages in a number of charitable and volunteering 
activities across all our offices through employee involvement, 
direct financial donations and fundraising drives and events. 
Each employee can take up to two days per year to participate 
in charitable and local community initiatives.

Our US community and charity committee, chaired by Bryan 
Falchuk, supported a number of activities and causes with a 
budget of $100,000. Over 100 employees received donations 
for their efforts, totalling over $30,000. Additional support  
went to Feeding America, the American Red Cross and several 
cancer-related causes including Beazley’s global support of 
Movember. Employees from across the US set out to climb the 
three tallest mountains in the northeastern states in three days, 
raising nearly $25,000 for the Conservation Fund in the 
process. Additionally, every office hosted a Day of Service in 
September where employees could directly contribute time to 
helping local communities. 

Our UK & RoW community and charity committee created  
a fundraising calendar this year to ensure we were getting 
involved in our communities and supporting our charities on  
a regular basis. 

In September we supported Macmillan Cancer Support’s 
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, raising over £400 to help 
people affected by cancer, with colleagues donating cakes  
that could be purchased to enjoy over a coffee break.

We held our first ever Beazley Christmas market, selling 
products from our charitable partner, Rwanda Aid, along with 
other items donated by our employees. Our sponsorship with 
British Fencing even came into play, with an agility test that 
colleagues could donate to take part in. 

We’re proud of our association with the Royal British Legion  
and donated over £3,000 with serving members from the 
Armed Forces selling poppies in our London office.

With a budget of £100,000, the UK and RoW community and 
charity committee financially supported each of our charitable 
partners; Rwanda Aid, Concordia and Trees for Cities and match 
funded the amazing efforts of our people raising funds for 
charities close to their hearts.

Globally more than 90 colleagues supported Movember, growing 
or wearing moustaches to support men’s health causes.  
All employees were encouraged to vote on who they thought  
would have the best moustache by the end of November, for  
a donation to Movember. In total, Beazley raised over $40,000 
globally for Movember.

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55

Corporate social responsibility continued

Marketplace, ethical service 
Treating customers fairly
The Beazley group approaches all dealings with customers  
with regard to: 
• general good business practice with strong standards  

of fair dealing; 

• maintaining positive, continuing commercial relationships 
with our policyholders and their brokers and professional 
advisers; and 

• delivering high customer service standards compliant  
with applicable regulatory requirements and other  
relevant standards.

Beazley’s general approach, to ensure the fair treatment of 
customer, has always been an intrinsic part of the way we do 
business, and continues to be so.

A Beazley groupwide ‘treating customers fairly’ (TCF) policy  
and training programme exists to communicate requirements 
throughout the group.

Broker relations
Strong trust-based relationships with brokers are fundamental 
to the success of our business and we are constantly looking 
for new ways to improve access to our underwriters for  
brokers, and opportunities to strengthen our existing broker 
relationships. Beazley’s dedicated broker relations team 
focuses on acting as a customer service contact point, 
removing any roadblocks and providing relationship 
management at a high level. 

Workplace diversity/equal opportunity 
We are an equal opportunities employer, ensuring we offer 
equal treatment to employees and prospective employees. We 
are proud of the fact that there are many different personalities 
working here and this diversity is the key to our global growth 
and success. We treat all employees fairly, with dignity and 
respect.

Our aim is to build on our achievements so far by actively 
attracting and developing people with different experiences, 
backgrounds and lifestyles, with different skills and 
perspectives, to join and lead our business: a workforce that 
mirrors the diversity of our customers and the communities 
where we work around the world. We want to build an even 
more open and collaborative culture, generating contagious 
energy and a real sense of creativity. We do this by supporting 

our managers and people, giving them the tools and opportunity 
to network and progress on their career/life path whilst 
continually building a diverse pipeline through our recruitment 
activities.

Our focus this year and into 2014 is to engage our managers  
so they become owners and advocates of diversity at Beazley. 
We believe that by capturing our managers’ imagination they 
will be able to lead and support our initiatives to ensure Beazley 
remains a diverse and great place to work.

Health and safety 
We take the health and wellbeing of staff seriously and are 
committed to ensuring all staff receive the best standard  
of benefits and enjoy supportive working conditions.

Employees are expected to take reasonable care of their own 
health and safety at work as well as those of others, and to 
co-operate with management to create a safe and healthy 
working environment. All employees, contractors and visitors 
are subject to induction, training and supervision in aspects of 
health and safety and additional training in ergonomics and fire 
safety awareness is provided. All health and safety matters are 
communicated via noticeboards, email memos, the intranet  
and safety representatives. Management of health and safety  
is both internally and externally audited for compliance against 
best practice. Quarterly meetings include staff from all levels 
who feed back on any issues. 

Overall responsibility for the management of health and safety 
at Beazley rests with the chief operating officer.

We encourage a work/life balance at Beazley and monitor our 
employees for signs of stress. Our benefits package along with 
sickness and stress management policies are based around 
employee wellbeing. Beazley employees are provided with 
private medical insurance and eye tests, a subsidy towards gym 
or health club membership, along with lunch and fruit as part  
of the core benefits. We also take stress management seriously 
and provide managers with training in identifying and managing 
stress. The services of a confidential and impartial employee 
assistance programme are also available to employees along 
with quiet/contemplation rooms. We monitor sickness and 
absenteeism and support our employees with enhanced sick 
pay, additional holidays and income protection in cases of 
extended sickness.

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Governance

Financial statements

Directors’ report

The directors have pleasure in presenting their report and the audited financial statements of the group for the year ended  
31 December 2013.

Principal activity
Beazley plc is the ultimate holding company for the Beazley group, a global specialist risk insurance and reinsurance business 
operating through its managed syndicates 2623, 6107, 3623, 3622 and 623 at Lloyd’s in the UK and Beazley Insurance  
Company, Inc., a US admitted carrier, in the US.

Review of business
A more detailed review of the business for the year and a summary of future developments are included in the chairman’s 
statement, the chief executive’s review and the financial review.

Results and dividends
The consolidated profit before taxation for the year ended 31 December 2013 amounted to $313.3m (2012: $251.2m). 

The directors announce both a second interim dividend of 5.9p per ordinary share (2012 second interim dividend: 5.6p) and  
a special dividend of 16.1p per ordinary share (2012 special dividend: 8.4p per ordinary share). These dividends, together  
with the first interim dividend of 2.9p per ordinary share (2012 first interim dividend: 2.7p), give a total of 24.9p (2012: 16.7p).

The aforementioned second interim and special dividends will be paid on 28 March 2014 to shareholders on the register  
on 28 February 2014 (save to the extent that shareholders on the register of members on 28 February 2014 are to be paid  
a dividend by a subsidiary of the company (being Beazley DAS Limited) resident for tax purposes in the United Kingdom pursuant 
to elections made or deemed to have been made and such shareholders shall have no right to this second interim dividend).

Directors
The directors of the company at 31 December 2013, who served during the year and to the date of this report, were as follows:

Dennis Holt
David Andrew Horton
George Patrick Blunden
Martin Lindsay Bride
Adrian Peter Cox
Angela Doreen Crawford-Ingle
Jonathan George Gray
Alexander Gordon Kelso Hamilton
Neil Patrick Maidment
Padraic Joseph O’Connor
Vincent Joseph Sheridan
Kenneth Paul Sroka
Rolf Albert Wilhelm Tolle
Clive Andrew Washbourn

non-executive chairman 
chief executive
non-executive director
finance director
director
non-executive director (appointed 27/03/2013)
director (resigned 30/06/2013)
non-executive director (resigned 27/03/2013)
director
non-executive director
non-executive director
non-executive director
non-executive director
director

The board is complying with the provision on annual re-election of all directors introduced by the UK Corporate Governance Code. 

Details of directors’ service contracts and beneficial interests in the company’s share capital are given in the directors’ 
remuneration report. Biographies of directors are set out in the ‘board of directors’ section of this report.

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Directors’ report continued

Corporate governance
The company’s compliance with corporate governance is disclosed in the corporate governance statement on pages 65 to 72.

Going concern
A review of the financial performance of the group is set out on pages 34 to 44. The financial position of the group, its cash flows 
and borrowing facilities are included therein.

After reviewing the group’s budgets and medium-term plans, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has 
adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt the  
going concern basis in preparing the accounts. 

Corporate, social and environmental responsibility
The company’s corporate, social and environmental policy is disclosed on pages 52 to 56.

No political donations were made by the group in either of the current or prior reporting period.

Risk management
The group’s approach to risk management is set out on pages 47 to 51 and further detail is contained in note 2 to the financial 
statements on pages 119 to 132.

Substantial shareholdings
As at 4 February 2014, the board had been notified of, or was otherwise aware of, the following shareholdings of 3% or more  
of the company’s issued ordinary share capital:

Invesco Perpetual
MFS Investment Management
Jupiter Asset Management
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Standard Life Investments
Legal & General Investment Management
Norges Bank Investment Management
Schroder Investment Management

Number of ordinary shares
102,606,521
28,574,723
25,454,176
22,181,597
20,017,469
18,768,671
18,389,609
16,159,616

%
19.7
5.5
4.9
4.3
3.8
3.6
3.5
3.1

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Governance

Financial statements

Annual general meeting
The notice of the annual general meeting to be held at 12.00hrs on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 at 2 Northwood Avenue, Santry,  
Dublin is set out in the circular to shareholders.

At 5 February 2014 there are outstanding options to subscribe for 19.6m ordinary shares pursuant to employee share schemes, 
representing 3.8% of the issued share capital. If the authority to purchase shares were exercised in full, these options would 
represent 3.6% of the enlarged issued share capital.

Auditors
KPMG have indicated their willingness to continue in office. Accordingly, a resolution to reappoint KPMG as auditors of the 
company will be proposed in the annual general meeting.

Disclosure of information to auditors
The directors who held office at the date of approval of this directors’ report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there  
is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are unaware; and each director has taken all the steps that he  
or she ought to have taken as a director to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that 
the company’s auditors are aware of that information.

By order of the board

S A Coope
Company secretary 
2 Northwood Avenue 
Northwood Park  
Santry Demense
Santry 
Dublin 9 

5 February 2014

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Governance

61  Letter from our chairman
62  Board of directors
Investor relations
64 
66  Statement of corporate governance
73  Letter from our chairman of the remuneration committee
74  Directors’ remuneration report
99  Statement of directors’ responsibilities
100  Independent auditor’s report

60

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Governance

Financial statements

Letter from 
our chairman

There is, and historically there has been, throughout the company and the group, a commitment to high 
standards of corporate governance. The group’s system of governance has been designed to establish, 
implement and maintain effective cooperation, internal reporting and communication of information at  
all relevant levels within the group. The board’s role is to set the company’s strategic aims, ensure that  
the necessary financial and human resources are in place for the company to meet its objectives and 
review management performance. The board met regularly throughout the year and in May we held  
a board strategy day and discussed and challenged the group’s strategy and five year business plans.

The board and its committees met regularly during the year with near 100% attendance from all members. 
We promote a culture of openness and debate at each meeting and seek and receive constructive 
challenge from the non-executive directors to help develop proposals on strategy and other matters.

The group recognises the value from regularly reviewing the effectiveness of the board and, following last 
year’s external assessment, we conducted a self assessment in 2013 through a questionnaire. Whilst there 
are no matters of significance to report, we have developed some actions to support further improvement 
in our governance processes. We ensure directors continually update their skills through individual 
development plans and board training. 

The group believes in the importance of diversity for board and group effectiveness and has developed a 
diversity strategy to support our commitment to being an equal opportunities employer. We are committed 
to ensure appointments are ultimately made on merit against selection criteria. Further details of our policy 
are set out in the nomination committee report.

During 2013 we welcomed Angela Crawford-Ingle to the board and she assumed the chair of the audit and 
risk committee from Gordon Hamilton, who left the board in March. Details of the search process are set 
out in the nomination committee report. We would like to thank Gordon for his valued contribution during 
his time on the board.

The provision of timely, accurate and appropriate information to the board and committees is key to good 
governance, and during the year we implemented electronic board management information. This ensures 
that information is easily available through a secure medium.

I am pleased to confirm the company has complied with the principles and provisions set out in the UK 
Corporate Governance Code throughout the year ended 31 December 2013, with the exception regarding 
attendance at the AGM. Further details are set out in the statement of corporate governance.

Details of the activities of the board and its committee are set out on pages 62-63. The directors’ 
remuneration report incorporates the additional disclosures consistent with the UK government’s new 
regulations on remuneration reporting.

Dennis Holt
Chairman

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

61

Board of directors

Our committees and committee chairmen 
The audit and risk committee assists the board of directors 
in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities for the financial 
reporting process, the system of internal control, the audit 
process, and the company’s process for monitoring 
compliance with laws and regulations and the code of 
conduct. It also ensures that an effective risk management 
process exists in the major regulated subsidiaries and that 
the Beazley group has an effective framework and process 
for managing its risks.

The remuneration committee ensures that remuneration 
arrangements support the strategic aims of the business 
and enable the recruitment, motivation and retention of 
senior executives while complying with the requirements  
of regulatory and governance bodies, satisfying the 
expectations of shareholders and remaining consistent 
with the expectations of the wider employee population.

The nomination committee is focused on evaluating the 
board of directors, ensuring an appropriate balance of 
skills, considering and recommending board and 
committee candidates and considering board succession.

  Governance framework

Board of directors

Audit and  
risk committee

Remuneration 
committee

The chair of the audit and  
risk committee was assumed  
by Angela Crawford-Ingle 
upon her appointment  
to the board in March.

The remuneration  
committee is chaired by 
Padraic O’Connor.

Nomination 
committee

Executive 
committee

The nomination committee  
is chaired by Dennis Holt.

The executive committee  
is chaired by Andrew Horton 
and acts under delegated 
authority from the board.

For further details 
go to pages 65-72

Andrew Horton
Chief executive officer

Martin Bride
Group finance director

Appointed: 12 June 2003*
Experience: Andrew joined 
Beazley in June 2003 as finance 
director. Prior to that he held 
various financial positions within 
ING, NatWest and Lloyds Bank 
and was the chief financial officer 
for the UK wholesale banking 
division of ING immediately prior 
to joining Beazley. He qualified  
as a chartered accountant with 
Coopers and Lybrand in 1987. He 
joined the board of Man Group plc 
in 2013 as a non-executive 
director.
Committees: Executive committee 
(chair), nomination committee

Appointed: 5 May 2009
Experience: Martin joined Beazley 
in May 2009 as finance director. 
He began his career in insurance 
in 1985 and took up his first role 
as a finance director in 1996.  
He trained as a general insurance 
actuary, before pursuing a career 
in the composite insurance sector 
with Aviva and Zurich Financial 
Services. His experience spans 
personal and commercial lines 
general insurance, the London 
market, life insurance and asset 
management in both the UK  
and France.
Committee: Executive committee

Adrian Cox
Head of specialty lines

Neil Maidment
Chief underwriting officer

Appointed: 6 December 2010
Experience: Adrian joined Beazley 
in June 2001. Prior to this, Adrian 
was at General Re for eight years, 
writing both treaty and facultative 
business. Since 2001 his 
responsibilities have included the 
casualty treaty portfolio and the 
SME and large risks portfolios, 
before being promoted to head  
of specialty lines in 2008.
Committee: Executive committee

Appointed: 15 March 2001*
Experience: Neil joined Beazley  
in 1990 and was appointed to the 
board in 1993. Neil has 29 years 
of Lloyd’s experience and, in 
2011, was elected to the board  
of the Lloyd’s Market Association.
Committee: Executive committee

*   Where the appointment date of a director pre-dates 9 June 2009  
(being the date that Beazley plc became the holding company of  
Beazley Group) this appointment date refers to their representation  
on the Beazley Group Limited board (formerly Beazley Group plc).

62 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Clive Washbourn
Head of marine

Dennis Holt
Chairman

Vincent Sheridan
Non-executive director

Padraic O’Connor
Non-executive director

Appointed: 04 December 2006*
Experience: Clive has over 30 
years’ experience in the marine 
insurance industry and actively 
underwrites marine hull, marine 
liability and marine war risks. 
Committee: Executive committee

Appointed: 21 July 2011
Experience: Dennis has more than 
40 years’ experience in financial 
services markets. He was formerly 
a main board executive director  
at Lloyds TSB (2000-2001),  
chief executive of AXA UK and  
a member of AXA’s Global 
executive committee (2001-
2006). He has been chairman  
of Liverpool Victoria and deputy 
chairman of Bank of Ireland. 
Dennis has recently been 
appointed to the board of  
The Co-Operative Bank plc.
Committees: Nomination 
committee (chair), remuneration 
committee

Appointed: 9 June 2009
Experience: Vincent is currently  
a non-executive director of FBD 
Holdings plc, Mercer (Ireland) 
Limited, Canada Life Assurance 
Ireland Limited and a number of 
other companies. He retired as 
chief executive of Vhi Healthcare 
in 2008 and, prior to that, was 
group chief executive of the 
Norwich Union Insurance Group  
in Ireland for ten years from 1991 
to 2001. He is a past president  
of the Institute of Chartered 
Accountants in Ireland and  
a former director of the Irish  
Stock Exchange. 
Committee: Audit and risk 
committee

Appointed: 13 March 2009*
Experience: Padraic is chairman 
of the Irish Stock Exchange as  
well as a non-executive director of 
Rabobank and a number of other 
companies. He was managing 
director of NCB Group between 
1991 and 1999, prior to which  
he was chief economist at the 
firm. Before joining NCB, Padraic 
worked at the Department of 
Finance and the Central Bank  
of Ireland. He holds primary  
and postgraduate degrees in 
economics from University College 
Dublin.
Committee: Remuneration 
committee (chair)

George Blunden
Non-executive director

Ken Sroka
Non-executive director

Angela Crawford-Ingle 
Non-executive director

Rolf Tolle
Non-executive director

Appointed: 1 January 2010
Experience: George is the senior 
independent director. He retired 
as senior vice president and 
director from AllianceBernstein 
Ltd in December 2009. He had 
previously been chief executive  
of Union plc, and a director of  
SG Warburg Securities, Seccombe, 
Marshall and Campion plc and 
Meridian Investment Performance 
Services. He is the chairman  
of the Charity Bank Ltd and 
chairman of Raglan Housing 
Association.
Committees: Audit and risk 
committee, remuneration 
committee, nomination 
committee

Appointed: 12 November 2010
Experience: Ken was formerly 
head of product development at 
Zurich Financial Services, retiring 
in 2008. During his 15 years 
there, he created and directed 
Zurich’s financial lines business in 
North America and, more recently, 
he focused on the development  
of specialist products in North 
America as president and CEO of 
Zurich North American Specialties 
Division. Prior to joining Zurich in 
1993, Mr Sroka’s career included 
roles at Chubb, AIG and USF&G.
Committees: Remuneration 
committee, nomination 
committee 

Appointed: 27 March 2013
Experience: Angela Crawford-Ingle 
is a Chartered Accountant with 
extensive audit experience  
of multinational and listed 
companies. She was a Partner  
in PricewaterhouseCoopers 
specialising in Financial Services 
for 20 years during which time she 
led the Insurance and Investment 
Management Division and retired 
in 2008. She is currently a Partner 
in Ambre Partners, a firm 
providing strategic, financial and 
operational advice to Private 
Equity firms and entrepreneurial 
companies. Angela has recently 
been appointed as a non-
executive director of Swinton 
Group Ltd.
Committee: Audit and risk 
committee (chair)

Appointed: 6 December 2010
Experience: Rolf joined the board 
of Beazley Furlonge Limited  
in June 2010. He retired as 
franchise performance director  
at Lloyd’s in December 2009  
after nearly seven years in the 
role, during which time he was 
widely credited with establishing  
a new and successful partnership 
between the Corporation of 
Lloyd’s and the market. Prior  
to that, he served as chief 
underwriting officer of Faraday 
Group, General Re’s Lloyd’s 
insurance and reinsurance 
operation.
Committee: Audit and risk 
committee

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

63

Investor relations

We place great importance on communication with shareholders. The annual report and accounts and the interim report are 
available to shareholders on the company’s website (www.beazley.com). A mailed copy of the accounts is also available on request. 
The company responds to individual letters from shareholders and maintains a separate investor relations centre within the existing 
www.beazley.com website, as a repository for all investor relations matters. 

Financial reporting for insurance companies can seem to be complex. In order to help shareholders and potential investors better 
understand the key drivers of the business and its prospects, we have endeavoured to provide increasing levels of transparency  
and explanation in our communications. As a result, in addition to enhancing the information contained in the annual and interim 
reports, the investor relations centre on the company website contains a substantial amount of relevant information for investors, 
including key corporate data and news, presentations to analysts, information for the names’ syndicate 623 and special purpose 
syndicate 6107, analyst estimates and a financial calendar. The website also gives investors the opportunity to sign up for an alert 
service as new information becomes available.

There is a regular dialogue with institutional shareholders, as well as general presentations after the preliminary and interim results. 
The board is advised of any specific comments from institutional investors, to enable it to develop an understanding of the views  
of major shareholders. All shareholders have the opportunity to put questions at the company’s annual general meeting.

The company’s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Prices are given daily in newspapers including the Financial Times, 
The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard.

Shareholding by type of investor

Mutual funds
Insurance
Retail
Pensions
Investment trusts
Directors
Charities
Trading
Others

51%
12%
12%
10%
5%
2%
1%
1%
6%

There are currently 11 analysts publishing research notes on the group. In addition to research coverage from Numis and  
JP Morgan, the company’s joint corporate broker, coverage is provided by Nomura, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Peel Hunt,  
Shore Capital, Espirito Santo Investment Bank Research, Cannaccord, Berenberg, Collins Stewart, Westhouse Securities  
and Edison Investment Research.

Share price performance

400

320

240

160

80

0

Dec
2004

Dec
2005

Dec
2006

Dec
2007

Dec
2008 

Dec
2009 

Dec
2010 

Dec
2011

Dec
2012

Dec
2013

Feb
2014

Beazley

FT350 Index

ASX Index

MCX Index

Financial calendar
28 February 2014
26 March 2014
28 March 2014

22 July 2014

Second interim dividend and special dividend record date
Annual general meeting
Second interim dividend and special dividend payment date for the six months ended  
31 December 2013
First interim dividend announcement for the six months ended 30 June 2014

64 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Statement of corporate governance

Compliance with code provisions
The board confirms that the company and the group have complied with the provisions set out in the UK Corporate Governance 
Code throughout the year ended 31 December 2013, with the exception of the fact that Andrew Horton was unable to attend the 
AGM due to illness and Jonathan Gray was unable to attend the AGM due to other pressing business commitments. 

The board considers: the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable; and that they 
provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the company’s performance, business model and strategy. 

The company’s auditors have reviewed the company’s compliance to the extent required by the UK listing rules for review by 
auditors of UK listed companies.

The board is accountable to the company’s shareholders for good governance and the statements set out below describe how the 
main principles identified in the UK Corporate Governance Code have been applied by the group.

The board
The board consists of a non-executive chairman, Dennis Holt, together with six independent non-executive directors, of whom 
George Blunden is the senior independent non-executive director, and five executive directors, of whom Andrew Horton is chief 
executive. The non-executive directors, who have been appointed for specified terms, are considered by the board to be 
independent of management and free of any relationship which could materially interfere with the exercise of their independent 
judgement.

Biographies of current board members appear in the ‘board of directors’ section of this report. The biographies indicate the high 
level and wide range of business experience that are essential to manage a business of this size and complexity. A well defined 
operational and management structure is in place and the roles and responsibilities of senior executives and key members of staff 
are clearly defined.

The full board meets at least five times each year and more frequently where business needs require. The board has a schedule of 
matters reserved for its decision. This includes, inter alia, strategic matters; statutory matters intended to generate and preserve 
value over the longer term; approval of financial statements and dividends; appointments and terminations of directors, officers 
and auditors; appointments of committees and setting of terms of reference. It is responsible for: the review of group performance 
against budgets; approving of material contracts; determining of authority levels within which management is required to operate; 
reviewing the group’s annual forecasts; and approval of the group’s corporate business plans, including capital adequacy and the 
Own Risk Solvency Assessment. The board is responsible for determining the nature and extent of the significant risks it is willing 
to take in achieving its strategic objectives. 

The board has also appointed an executive committee with delegated responsibility for particular matters such as considering the 
business plan, underwriting, risk and regulations (including the effectiveness of the internal control and risk management 
systems), investments and operations.

There is an agreed principle that directors may take independent professional advice if necessary at the company’s expense, on 
the basis that the expense is reasonable. This is in addition to the access which every director has to the company secretary. The 
secretary is charged by the board with ensuring that board procedures are followed.

To enable the board to function effectively and directors to discharge their responsibilities, full and timely access is given to all 
relevant information. In the case of board meetings, this consists of a comprehensive set of papers, including regular business 
progress reports and discussion documents regarding specific matters. During 2013 the company implemented electronic board 
and committee papers which ensures all information available is easy to access. Directors also have access to an electronic 
information repository to support their activities. All directors allocate sufficient time to the company to enable them to discharge 
their responsibilities effectively. The terms and conditions of appointment for all the non-executive directors set out the expected 
time commitment and they agree that they have sufficient time to meet what is expected of them. The nomination committee 
actively reviews the activities and time commitments of members and any changes to other significant commitments of the 
chairman and the non-executive directors would be reported to the board as they arose. During the year the nomination 
committee prepared a job specification, including an assessment of the time commitment expected, for the appointment of 
Angela Crawford-Ingle.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

65

Statement of corporate governance continued

The composition of, and appointments to, the board of both executive and non-executive directors are considered by the 
nomination committee. The recommendations of the nomination committee are ultimately made to the full board, which considers 
them before any change is made. All directors receive a full, formal and tailored induction on joining the board and the chairman 
regularly reviews and agrees with each director their training needs to ensure that they continually update their skills, knowledge 
and familiarity with the company, as required to fulfil their role both on the board and on any board committee of which they are  
a member. The remuneration committee considers any remuneration package of executive directors before it is offered to  
a potential appointee. 

Full details of directors’ remuneration and a statement of the company’s remuneration policy are set out in the directors’ 
remuneration report.

Meetings with non-executive directors
The chairman holds meetings as required with the non-executive directors without the executive directors being present. 

Board performance evaluation
Under the UK Corporate Governance Code, the board is required to undertake formal and rigorous evaluation of its own 
performance and that of its committees and individual directors, and for this to be externally facilitated every three years. In 2012 
an assessment of the effectiveness of the board and its committees was externally facilitated by Deloitte LLP. The board confirms 
that improvements recommended by Deloitte LLP have been implemented. In 2013 the self assessment of effectiveness of  
the board and its committees was conducted through a combination of questionnaires and meetings. The board considered the 
results of the assessment and confirmed that there were no significant matters to be addressed. Further details of the review  
are included in the nomination committee report.

Individual attendance by directors at regular meetings of the board and of committees
In addition to the five regular board meetings, there were further meetings to consider the Q3 2013 interim statement and director 
changes. Attendance at the meetings was high. All the directors also attend an annual strategy day. The remuneration committee 
has five scheduled meetings and in 2013 there was an additional ad hoc meeting with full attendance.

Attendance at the regular board and committee meetings is set out in the table below:

Director
G P Blunden
M L Bride
A P Cox
A D Crawford-Ingle*
J G Gray*
A G K Hamilton*
D Holt
D A Horton
P J O’Connor
N P Maidment
V J Sheridan
K P Sroka*
R W Tolle
C A Washbourn 

Board

Audit and risk
committee

Remuneration
committee

Nomination
committee

No. of
 meetings
5
5
5
4
2
1
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

No.
 attended
5
5
5
4
2
1
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
4

No. of
 meetings
6
–
–
5
–
1
–
–
–
–
6
–
6
–

No.
 attended
6
–
–
5
–
1
–
–
–
–
6
–
6
–

No. of
 meetings
5
–
–
–
–
–
5
–
5
–
–
5
–
–

No.
 attended
5
–
–
–
–
–
5
–
5
–
–
5
–
–

No. of
 meetings
5
–
–
–
–
1
5
5
–
–
–
4
–
–

No.
 attended
5
–
–
–
–
1
5
5
–
–
–
4
–
–

*   On 27 March 2013 Gordon Hamilton resigned from the board, audit and risk and nomination committees and Ken Sroka was appointed to the nomination 

committee. Angela Crawford-Ingle was appointed to the board and as chairman of the audit and risk committee on 27 March 2013. On 30 June 2013 Jonathan 
Gray resigned from the board.

66 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Audit and internal control
The respective responsibilities of the directors and the auditors in connection with the accounts are explained in the statement of 
directors’ responsibilities and the independent auditor’s report, together with the statement of the directors on going concern in 
the directors’ report.

The board confirms that there is a continuous process for identifying, evaluating and managing any significant compliance issues 
and risks facing the group. All significant risks are captured in the Beazley risk register and monitored on a monthly basis. The risk 
register and the related internal capital assessment process are subject to review, challenge and approval by the board.

The board agreed the 2013 risk appetite for the group at the end of 2012 and, throughout 2013, the board has considered and 
acted upon the information presented to it in order to make risk based decisions against the 2013 risk appetite. Key components 
of the risk management framework include monthly control self assessments and six monthly risk assessments, with ad hoc risk 
assessments being conducted when required. These matters have been considered by the executive risk and regulatory 
committee each month and the audit and risk committee and board quarterly. In addition, the board has considered the quarterly 
Own Risk and Solvency Assessment report in the past year. This risk management framework has provided the board with an 
ongoing process for identifying, assessing, monitoring and managing the risks to the company, and accords with the ‘Internal 
Control: Revised Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code’ guidance. 

The directors are responsible for the group’s system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness. However, such a system 
can only provide reasonable, not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. The system is designed to manage, 
rather than eliminate, the risk of failure to achieve business objectives within the risk appetite set by the board.

The key procedures that the directors have established to ensure that internal controls are effective and commensurate with  
a group of this size include:
• the day-to-day supervision of the business by the executive directors;
• review and analysis by the various group committees of standard monthly, quarterly and periodic reporting, as prescribed by the 

board;

• review of financial, operational and assurance reports from management; and
• the review of any significant issues arising from internal and external audits.

The board therefore confirms that it has, during 2013, reviewed the effectiveness of the group’s risk management and internal 
controls (including financial, operational and compliance controls), which have been in place throughout the year under review and 
continue to operate up to the date of approval of the annual report and accounts.

Further information on the role of the audit and risk committee is set out on page 68 and further information on risk management 
at Beazley is set out in the risk management report.

Shareholder communication
The company places great importance on communication with shareholders. The annual report and accounts and the interim 
report will be available from www.beazley.com and, on request, will be mailed to shareholders and to other parties who have  
an interest in the group’s performance. The company responds to individual letters from shareholders and maintains a separate 
investor relations centre within the existing www.beazley.com website, as a repository for all investor relations matters.

There is regular dialogue with institutional shareholders, as well as general presentations, attended by executive directors, after 
the preliminary and interim results. The board is advised of any specific comments from institutional investors, to enable it to 
develop an understanding of the views of major shareholders. All shareholders have the opportunity to put forward questions  
at the company’s annual general meeting.

The company has the authority within its articles to communicate with its shareholders using electronic and website 
communication and to allow for electronic proxy voting.

Board committees
The group has established properly constituted audit and risk, remuneration and nomination committees of the board. There  
are terms of reference for each committee and details of their main responsibilities and activities in 2013 are set out on  
pages 68 to 72. 

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

67

Statement of corporate governance continued

Audit and risk committee

The committee’s main risk-related responsibilities are to,  
inter alia:
• advise the board on the company’s risk management 

framework, which includes the risk management objectives, 
risk appetite, risk culture and assignment of risk 
management responsibilities;

• review risk reports and management information to enable  
a clear understanding of the key risks and controls in the 
business;

• review any breaches of risk appetite and the adequacy of 

proposed action; and

•  review the identification of future risks, including considering 
emerging trends and future risk strategy, and review the remit 
of the risk management function and ensure it has adequate 
resources and appropriate access to information to enable  
it to perform its function effectively. 

Full details of the terms of reference of the committee are 
available on www.beazley.com.

Significant financial statement reporting issues for the 2013 year 
The significant financial statement reporting issues, along  
with the significant matters and accounting judgements that  
the committee considered during the year under review, are  
set out below.

a) Valuation of insurance liabilities
As further explained in note 1 to the financial statements, the 
group’s policy is to hold sufficient provisions, including those  
to cover claims which have been incurred but not reported 
(IBNR) to meet all liabilities as they fall due. 2013 has seen  
a number of medium-sized catastrophes, but has otherwise 
been a relatively benign year. Our consideration of cat losses 
has therefore been restricted to developments in relation  
to the more significant cats of previous years.

The audit committee receives regular reports from both the 
internal group actuary and the external audit team. In the latter 
part of the year, the group actuary has reported both informally 
and formally on the results of the Q3 peer review process, which 
the committee considers to be a key control as it provides a 
level of informed independent challenge for the reserve position. 
Through this reporting, management confirmed that they 
remain satisfied that the outstanding claims reserves included 
in the financial statements provide an appropriate margin over 
projected ultimate claims costs, and none of the committee’s 
other enquiries identified any errors or inconsistencies that 
were material in the context of the financial statements as  
a whole. 

Angela Crawford-Ingle

The board has delegated oversight of audit and risk matters  
to the audit and risk committee which currently comprises 
Angela Crawford-Ingle (committee chairman), Vincent Sheridan, 
George Blunden and Rolf Tolle. Angela assumed the role of 
chairman on her appointment to the board in March 2013  
and has relevant and recent financial experience as a former 
partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Responsibilities of the committee
The committee’s main audit-related responsibilities are to,  
inter alia: 
• monitor the integrity of the company’s financial statements 

and any other formal announcements relating to the 
company’s financial performance; 

•  review the Annual Report before submission to and approval 
by, the board, and before clearance by the external auditors, 
covering critical accounting policies, significant financial 
reporting judgements, the going concern assumption, 
compliance with accounting standards and other 
requirements under applicable law, regulations and 
governance codes applicable to the financial statements;
• review the company’s internal financial controls and the 

company’s internal control and risk management systems; 
•  approve the appointment or termination of the appointment 
of the head of internal audit and monitor and review the 
effectiveness of the company’s internal audit function; 

• review the arrangements by which employees of the company 

may, in confidence, raise concerns about possible 
improprieties in matters of financial reporting or other areas; 
and 

• recommending to the board of directors the appointment, 
re-appointment and termination of external auditors and 
approving their remuneration and terms of engagement.

68 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The external auditors have also used the Q3 data to re-project 
the reserves using their own methodologies and the 
comparison presented to the committee has provided an 
additional level of challenge to the result. This work was  
rolled forward and reported on at the year end with further 
consideration of the classes of business within specialty lines, 
which the committee requested. On the basis of their audit 
work, the auditor reported no inconsistencies or misstatements 
that were material in the context of the financial statements  
as a whole; and in the committee’s view this supports the 
appropriateness of the group’s methodology. 

b) Valuation of financial assets at fair value
As more fully explained in note 16, the total carrying amount  
of financial assets at fair value (investments) at 31 December 
2013 is $4,043.6m. 

The board is responsible for setting the investment strategy, 
defining the risk appetite and overseeing the outsource provider 
via the chief investment officer (CIO). The committee receives 
reporting from the CIO via the finance director and it has 
reported for 2013 that the investment portfolio is in line with 
the board approved risk appetite and that carrying values of  
the portfolio as at 31 December 2013 are appropriate.

The auditor explained the results of their work on financial 
instruments, including testing of the existence and valuation. 
On the basis of their audit work, no misstatements that were 
material in the context of the financial statements as a whole 
were identified. 

c) Valuation of intangible assets and goodwill
As set out in note 12, in 2013 management have recorded  
a write-down in the valuation of the renewal rights associated 
with the AIP business in Australia. This business has been 
loss-making for several years and the committee followed  
the progress of this decision through reporting from both 
management and the external auditor to the point at which  
the decision was finalised. The committee noted that the 
loss-making business meant that the projected future cash 
flows could not support the carrying value of the intangible 
asset and concurred with the position taken by management.

d) Recoverability of reinsurance assets
The committee received confirmation from management that 
the majority of Beazley’s reinsurance receivables are due from 
highly rated institutions. Based on previous experience, the 
committee have not noted any instances where poor quality 
reinsurers have led to a financial loss and are comfortable with 
the monitoring processes management have described and  
put in place to ensure this continues. The external auditor  
has provided an overview of industry benchmarks reviewed  
in the context of the group’s reinsurance counterparts and  
the committee is comfortable that the judgements applied  
by management are not out of line with peers.

Internal audit
The Beazley plc board has delegated oversight of the group’s 
internal audit function and its work to the audit and risk 
committee; the function reports directly to the committee. 
During 2013, the committee:
• considered the results of all internal audit reports and 

monitored the progress of resulting actions;

• approved the internal audit universe and 2014 internal  

audit plan;

• reviewed and approved the internal audit charter;
• monitored ongoing amendments to the internal audit 
function’s activities to ensure it complies with the UK 
Chartered Institute of Internal Auditor’s code for effective 
internal audit in the financial services sector.

Assessing the effectiveness of the external auditors
The committee places great importance on ensuring there are 
high standards of quality and effectiveness in the external audit 
process. Audit quality is assessed throughout the year, with  
a focus on strong audit governance and the quality of the team. 
The effectiveness of the audit is assessed through discussion 
on an annual basis, taking into account considerations such as:
•  reviewing the quality and scope of the audit planning and  

its responsiveness to changes in the business;

•  monitoring of the auditor’s independence;
•  considering the level of challenge evidence in discussions 

and reporting; and

• discussing the output of the FRC’s Audit Quality Review  

with our auditors.

Non-audit services 
The audit and risk committee’s responsibility to monitor  
and review the objectivity and independence of the external 
auditor is supported by a policy that we have developed in 
relation to the provision of non-audit services by the auditors. 
The objective is to ensure that the provision of such services 
does not impair the external auditor’s objectivity. The policy 
specifically disallows certain activities to be provided by  
the auditors, such as bookkeeping and accounting services, 
internal actuarial services and executive remuneration services. 
The policy requires pre-approval for all other material services 
such as due diligence assistance, tax services and advice  
on accounting and audit matters. The committee reviews the 
terms of such proposed services to ensure they have been 
robustly justified. 

The committee receives a report from the external auditors 
twice a year setting out all non-audit services undertaken so 
that it can monitor the types of services being provided, and  
the fees incurred for that work. The aim is to limit the total 
spend on non-audit services to a maximum of the annual audit 
fee, unless it is deemed to be in the shareholders’ interest from 
an efficiency and effectiveness point of view.

The split between audit and non-audit fees for the year under 
review is disclosed in note 6 to the financial statements.  
None of the non-audit services provided are considered by the 
audit and risk committee to affect the auditors’ independence 
or objectivity.

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Annual report 2013

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Statement of corporate governance continued

Risk management 
The Beazley plc board has delegated oversight of the risk 
management framework to the audit and risk committee. To 
assist the audit and risk committee, the committee, supported 
by the risk committees of the subsidiary boards, receives and 
review reports from the risk management function focusing  
on the following areas:
• risk appetite: The committee has monitored the actual  

risk profile against risk appetite throughout 2013 and can 
confirm that Beazley has been operating within risk appetite. 
The committee has also reviewed the proposed 2014 risk 
appetite and commended it to the Beazley plc board for 
approval;

• risk assessment: The committee has performed a review  

of the risk profile to ensure it covers the complete universe  
of risk and that all major underlying risks are visible and are 
being monitored;

• reverse stress testing: The committee has received the 

results of the reverse stress testing exercise to understand 
what would have to happen for the group to be unviable and 
to provide assurance to the board that the likelihood of this  
is sufficiently remote; 

• risk profiles: The committee has reviewed risk profiles on the 
Beazley Breach Response product and our aviation products 
with a particular focus on what risks are underwritten and 
how the risks, including the aggregation of risk, are managed;

• emerging risk: The committee supported the identification  

of strategic and emerging risks which were discussed  
at the board meeting in May and have been subsequently 
monitored and reported in the quarterly Own Risk and 
Solvency Assessment (ORSA);

• oversight of the control environment: The committee has 
received a quarterly consolidated assurance report which 
provides the status of the control environment with views 
from the business, from risk management, from compliance 
and from internal audit. It also includes entries from the risk 
incident log;

•  oversight of internal model: The committee and the risk 

committees of the subsidiary boards have reviewed a number 
of reports on the operation of the internal model. These  
have included a standing report on internal model output,  
a validation report covering both internal and independent 
validation and themed reviews, for example, on the approach 
used to aggregate risk. These assessments have supported 
the boards’ use of the internal model; and

• quarterly ORSA: The committee has received a quarterly 
ORSA report and has reviewed it as part of the quality 
assurance process before commending it to the board.

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Remuneration committee

Key activities in 2013
During 2013 the committee:
•  reviewed the key aspects of the remuneration policy, and  
the committee is satisfied that the current remuneration 
structure is appropriate to attract and retain talented people;
•  considered the chief risk officer’s report on the remuneration 
policy, which confirmed that the remuneration arrangements 
are consistent with, and promote, effective risk management 
throughout the organisation through the consideration  
of remuneration design, performance of the control 
environment, profit related pay targets, calculation of the 
bonus pool, and share plan awards;

•  oversaw the new disclosures required in the directors’ 

remuneration report;

• ensured incentives continued to be appropriate and to  

align company and shareholders;

•  approved the grant of share awards under the group’s 

deferred, retention and LTIP plans;

•  considered the salary and bonus awards for 2013 for 

executive directors, heads of control functions and other 
officers;

•  approved the fee awards for non-executive directors and 
recommended the chairman’s fees to the board; and
•  reviewed the executive director employment contracts.

Further information on the work of the remuneration committee 
is set out in the directors’ remuneration report .

Padraic O’Connor

The membership of the remuneration committee remained 
unchanged in 2013 and comprises Padraic O’Connor 
(chairman), George Blunden, Dennis Holt and Ken Sroka.

Responsibilities of the committee
The committee’s main responsibilities are to, inter alia:
• set the remuneration policy for the group. The objective of 

such policy shall be to ensure that members of the executive 
management of the company are provided with appropriate 
incentives to encourage enhanced performance and are,  
in a fair and responsible manner, rewarded for their individual 
contributions to the success of the company;

• recommend and where appropriate approve targets for 

performance related pay schemes and seek shareholder 
approval for any long term incentive arrangements;
•  recommend the remuneration of the chairman of the 

company, the chief executive, the executive directors, the 
direct reports to the chief executive, the company secretary 
and such other members of the executive management as  
it is designated to consider. No director or manager shall be 
involved in any decisions as to his or her own remuneration;
•  obtain reliable, up-to-date information about remuneration  

in other companies; and

• appoint and review the performance of remuneration 

committee consultants Deloitte LLP.

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Annual report 2013

71

Statement of corporate governance continued

Nomination committee

Policy on gender and other diversification
We continually review our approach to diversity and our aim is 
to have nurtured diverse employees across the business who 
are given the tools and opportunities to progress their career 
within Beazley. 

In order to achieve this we are:
• supporting, mentoring and encouraging individuals from 
diverse backgrounds to grow and develop within Beazley;
• establishing leadership and sponsorship of our vision at the 

most senior level of our organisation;

• regularly reviewing our employment policies and practices 
with input from our people to ensure they support our 
diversity objectives; 

• building in accessibility from the start when developing  

new products and services; and

• taking positive action to ensure all employees receive 

equality of opportunity in recruitment, training, development, 
promotion and remuneration.

Key activities in 2013
During 2013 the committee:
•  completed the search for a replacement for Gordon Hamilton 
who left in March 2013. The nomination committee prepared 
a job specification, including an assessment of the time 
commitment expected. An executive search consultancy  
firm, Zygos, was appointed to conduct a search for the role. 
On appointment, Zygos was briefed on the specific criteria 
necessary for the role. Angela Crawford-Ingle was appointed 
to the board on 27 March 2013 and assumed the chair of the 
audit and risk committee;

•  oversaw the completion of the recommendations and actions 
arising from the 2012 board review. The 2013 review was 
conducted internally through questionnaires. No significant 
matters were identified and the committee concluded that 
the board is balanced with appropriate skills and 
competence. Some areas for process improvement were 
noted and the committee will oversee the completion of the 
action plan in 2014;

•  reviewed the performance of management and considered 

the board and committee succession plans;

•  ensured that director development plans were implemented 
and that the board collectively received relevant training; and
•  ensured board members are able to allocate sufficient time 
to the company to discharge their responsibilities effectively. 

Dennis Holt

The nomination committee is chaired by Dennis Holt and 
currently comprises George Blunden, Andrew Horton and  
Ken Sroka.

Responsibilities of the committee
The committee’s main responsibilities are to, inter alia:
• regularly review the structure, size and composition (including 
the skills, knowledge, experience and diversity) required of 
the board compared to its current and projected position;
• give full consideration to succession planning for executive 
and non-executive directors and in particular for the key  
roles of chairman and chief executive, senior executives and 
any other such member of the senior management as it is 
relevant to consider;

• ensure the directors have the required skills and competence 
• review annually the time required from non-executive 

directors;

• review the results of the board performance evaluation 
process that relate to the composition and skills and 
competencies of the board and ensure an appropriate 
response to development needs; 

• recommend to the board the appointments for the role of 
senior independent director, chairman and membership  
of board committees; and

• recommended all directors for re-election by shareholders 

under the annual re-election provisions of the UK Corporate 
Governance Code.

72 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Letter from our chairman of the remuneration 
committee

Dear shareholder

In the following pages we set out the committee’s directors’ remuneration report for 2013. Following the introduction of new  
UK regulations, this year shareholders will be asked to vote separately on our remuneration policy and our annual remuneration 
report. Beazley has chosen to comply with the regulations in full notwithstanding that we are not a UK company. Accordingly our 
policy report will be subject to a binding vote at the AGM. 

Beazley delivered an excellent performance for 2013 with a pre-tax profit of $313.3m (2012: $251.2m). Our combined ratio  
of 84% is the best we have reported as a public company. Even though aided by a benign claims environment, this was also 
testament to our focus on underwriting profitability. We continued to achieve premium growth in 2013 despite challenging market 
conditions and maintained a focus on future growth through hiring individuals to help us expand into new geographies and lines  
of business. 

This success reflects our greatest asset: our people. Talent management is one of the cornerstones of Beazley’s business success, 
as we seek to recruit and retain people who rank among the best insurance professionals in the world. The main focus of our 
retention strategy is through our culture and shared values. Ensuring Beazley has a competitive remuneration mix that rewards 
sustainable performance remains important to our future success. 

Our executive remuneration policy is governed by two guiding principles – alignment to shareholder interests and performance  
of the group. The committee considers the overall package to be appropriate, responsible and balanced. The rewards of the 
company’s leadership are strongly aligned to the long-term and sustained performance of the company. 

The committee regularly reviews whether our approach to remuneration is consistent with and takes account of the risk profile of 
the company. The committee receives an annual report from the chief risk officer on remuneration policy to ensure it is consistent 
with and promotes effective risk management.

We have made no significant changes to the executive remuneration policies during the year. 

The average salary increase for executive directors was 2.2% which was marginally less than the average increases throughout 
the organisation. 

We are keen to encourage an ongoing dialogue on our policies and continue to welcome our shareholders’ views.

Padraic O’Connor
Remuneration committee chairman

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Annual report 2013

73

Directors’ remuneration report

This report has been prepared by the remuneration committee (the committee) of Beazley plc and approved by the board of 
Beazley plc. The report complies with the Large and Medium sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 
2013.

The symbol ▪ by a heading indicates that the information in that section has been audited.

Directors’ remuneration policy 
This part of the report sets out Beazley’s director’s remuneration policy which will be subject to a binding vote at the 2014 AGM. 
Subject to shareholder approval, the policy will take effect from the 2014 AGM.

Remuneration policy table
The following table sets out descriptions of each component of executive director remuneration packages comprised in the 
Beazley directors’ remuneration policy, and, at the bottom of the table, the policy for the non-executive directors.

Purpose and link to strategy

Element
Executive directors
Base salary

Salaries are set at a level  
to appropriately recognise 
responsibilities and  
to be broadly market 
competitive.

Operation

Maximum

Performance conditions

Salaries are normally  
reviewed annually. 

Salaries for 2014 are:
• D A Horton: £439,110
• M L Bride: £306,000
• A P Cox: £329,500
• N P Maidment: £329,500
• C A Washbourn: £329,500

None.

There is no maximum  
salary opportunity. Any 
salary increases will 
generally reflect our 
standard approach to 
all-employee salary 
increases across the  
group. Higher increases  
may be made in a range of 
circumstances where the 
committee considers that  
a larger increase is 
appropriate including (but 
not limited to):
• a new appointment
• a change in role or 

adoption of additional 
responsibilities

• development of the 
individual in the role
• alignment to market 

levels.

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Element
Annual bonus To link reward to 

Purpose and link to strategy

short-term financial 
performance and 
individual contribution.

Additional alignment with 
shareholders’ interests 
through the operation  
of bonus deferral.

Operation
Discretionary annual  
bonus to individuals. An 
incentive pool is generated  
by reference to group  
return on equity and awards 
are based upon individual 
performance.

Maximum
An individual overall cap of 
400% of salary will apply. 
Cash bonuses will normally 
be capped at 250% of  
salary with any amount 
above this deferred into 
shares.

Portion generally deferred  
into shares for three years 
(between 0% and 37.5% of 
bonus) dependent on level  
of bonus.

Deferred shares may have 
dividend equivalents until 
vesting.

Deferred share awards are 
subject to a malus provision, 
whereby the committee may 
determine that unvested 
shares will be forfeited in 
certain circumstances, such  
as a material misstatement  
of accounts or a significant 
adverse group development.

Performance conditions
An incentive pool is 
calculated as a 
percentage of profit 
subject to a minimum 
return on equity. 

Individual payouts to 
executive directors are 
discretionary and take 
into account the 
individual’s contribution 
and, where relevant,  
the performance of their 
division. 

For heads of divisions,  
a bonus may be awarded 
outside of the incentive 
pool in circumstances 
where the performance  
of a division in relation to 
the group is very strong.

While bonus awards  
are determined by 
reference to the profit 
pool, the bonus plan is 
discretionary and the 
committee may take into 
account any other factors 
it considers appropriate. 

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Element
LTIP

Purpose and link to strategy
To align the senior 
management team to the 
performance of the group  
by setting performance 
targets over the longer 
term.

Operation
Awards of shares with 
performance conditions.

Maximum
Awards of up to 200%  
of salary. 

Awards are normally in  
the form of nil-cost options 
with a ten-year term, but  
may also be in the form  
of a conditional award. 

For 2014, awards of 200% 
of salary for the CEO and 
150% of salary for other 
executive directors. 

LTIP shares may have dividend 
equivalents until vesting.

Normally LTIP awards are 
subject to shareholding 
requirements to be built up 
over three years. LTIP awards 
may be forfeited if shareholding 
requirements are not met.

Performance conditions
Vesting of LTIP awards is 
dependent on net asset 
value per share (NAVps) 
performance against the 
risk-free rate of return.

No more than 25% of  
the award may vest for 
threshold performance.

A portion of the award is 
subject to performance 
over three years and  
a portion over five years.

LTIP awards from 2012 are 
subject to a malus provision. 
The committee may determine 
that unvested shares will  
be forfeited in certain 
circumstances, such as a 
material misstatement of 
accounts or a significant 
adverse group development.
Under the plan executive 
directors and selected staff 
may voluntarily defer part  
of their bonus into an 
underwriting syndicate.  
Capital commitments can  
be lost if underwriting 
performance is poor.
Benefits include, but are  
not limited to, a company  
car or car allowance, season 
ticket, private medical 
insurance, death in service 
benefit and income protection 
insurance. Further benefits 
may be provided, if the 
committee considers it 
appropriate. 

Tax equalisation policies  
may apply. 
Benefits in the event of 
relocation may include, but  
are not limited to, relocation 
allowance, housing allowance 
and school fees. 

Investment in 
underwriting

To align personal capital 
with underwriting 
performance. 

Benefits

To provide market levels 
of benefits.

Relocation 
benefits

To support Beazley’s  
growth as an international 
business.

The plan mirrors 
investment in an 
underwriting syndicate.

None.

Payments are limited  
to the returns on the 
investment in the 
underwriting syndicate. 
The level of capital 
commitment is limited  
by the bonus opportunity.

There is no overall 
maximum as the cost  
of insurance benefits will 
vary depending on the 
individual’s circumstances 
and the cost of relocation 
will vary depending upon 
the jurisdiction.

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Element
Pension

Purpose and link to strategy
To provide market levels 
of pension provision.

SAYE

US SAYE

Other HMRC 
all-employee 
approved 
plans

To create staff alignment 
with the group and 
promote a sense of 
ownership.
To create staff alignment 
with the group and 
promote a sense of 
ownership.
To create staff alignment 
with the group and 
promote a sense of 
ownership.

Performance conditions
None.

Maximum
For defined contribution, 
maximum company 
contribution of 15%  
of salary. 

Legacy defined benefit 
pension arrangements  
will be honoured.

Monthly contribution limit  
up to the HMRC approved 
limit.

None.

Monthly contribution limit  
at a level that is broadly in 
line with the UK SAYE plan.

None.

Limits in line with HMRC 
approved limits.

None.

Operation
Current policy is to contribute 
to a defined contribution 
pension plan. An equivalent 
cash alternative may be 
offered. 

Legacy defined benefit 
pension arrangements are in 
place for certain executives 
(A P Cox, N P Maidment and  
C A Washbourn). Further 
service accruals ceased  
on 31 March 2006. 
HMRC-approved monthly 
savings scheme facilitating  
the purchase of shares  
at a discount.
US version of the SAYE,  
for US employees. 

Executive directors  
may participate in any 
all-employee HMRC approved 
share plans adopted by  
the company.

Executive directors would 
participate on the same 
terms as all employees.

Legacy matters
Payments can also be made to executive directors under the following legacy remuneration arrangements. It is not intended that 
these components of remuneration policy will be used to grant any future awards.
Marine share 
incentive  
plan (MSIP)

1,000,000 shares. 

To align the head of the 
marine division with the 
sustained outstanding 
performance of the marine 
division.

A share award in 2013 for  
the head of marine made  
in two tranches:
• 500,000 shares to vest 

after 3 years,

• 500,000 shares to vest 

after 5 years.

Shares under award may 
have dividend equivalents 
until vesting.

Awards are subject to a malus 
provision. The committee may 
determine that unvested 
shares will be forfeited in 
certain circumstances, such 
as a material misstatement 
of accounts or a significant 
adverse group development.

The award is subject to 
pre-tax divisional return 
on equity (ROE) 
performance and 
continued employment, 
measured over three 
years (50%) and five years 
(50%): 20% vesting for 
15% divisional ROE 
performance, 100% 
vesting for 25% divisional 
ROE performance, with 
straight line vesting 
between points. 

Conditional 
awards

Conditional awards were made on 27 April 2009 at the time of M L Bride’s recruitment. The 150,000 shares vest 
in four equal tranches on each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries.

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Non-executive directors
Non-executive directors’ fees comprise payment of an annual basic fee and additional fees to reflect specific responsibilities, 
where applicable. No non-executive director participates in the group’s incentive arrangements or pension plan.

Basic fee
Additional 
fees

Payment of a basic annual fee
Additional fees are paid to reflect additional responsibilities of certain non-executive directors, as follows:
– Senior independent director
– Audit and risk committee chairman
– Remuneration committee chairman
– Subsidiary board membership and chairmanship fees.

Expenses incurred in the performance of non-executive duties for the company may be reimbursed or paid  
for directly by the company, including any tax due on the expenses.

Total fees paid to non-executive directors will remain within the limit stated in the Articles of Association.

Clawback of awards via malus may apply where stated in the above table. Other elements of remuneration are not subject to 
recovery provisions.

The committee may increase the proportion of bonus deferred into shares at any time.

LTIP and MSIP share awards shall be operated in accordance with the rules of the plan as approved by shareholders. In 
accordance with those rules the committee has discretion in the following areas:
• in the event of a variation of Beazley’s share capital or a demerger, delisting, special dividend, rights issue or other similar event, 
which may, in the committee’s opinion, affect the current or future value of shares, the number of shares subject to an award 
and/or any performance condition attached to awards, may be adjusted. Awards under Beazley’s other share plans have similar 
adjustment provisions;

• the committee may determine that awards may be settled in cash;
• the committee may substitute or amend a performance condition if one or more events occur which cause the committee to 

consider that a substituted or amended condition would be more appropriate and would not be materially more or less difficult 
to satisfy; and

• the committee may determine the basis on which dividends will be calculated which may include notional reinvestment.

The committee reserves the right to make any remuneration payments and payments for loss of office notwithstanding that they 
are not line with the policy set out in this report where the terms of the payment were agreed before the policy came into effect,  
or at a time when the relevant individual was not a director of the company and, in the opinion of the committee, the payment was 
not in consideration for the individual becoming a director of the company. For these purposes ‘payments’ includes the committee 
satisfying awards of variable remuneration and an award over shares is ‘agreed’ at the time the award is granted.

Performance measures and targets
Annual bonus plan
The pool calculation is based on the profit and ROE results for the financial year whilst the committee exercises its own judgment 
on the level of individual bonus awards. The committee believes the approach to the determination of bonuses creates alignment 
to shareholders’ interests and ensures that bonuses are affordable, while the ROE targets increase the performance gearing.

The committee reviews the bonus pool framework each year to ensure that it remains appropriate and targets are set taking into 
account the prevailing environment, interest rates and expected investment returns, headcount and any other relevant factors.

Investment in underwriting
The Beazley staff underwriting plan provides for participants to contribute personal capital to Beazley syndicates. Selected staff 
are invited to participate through bonus deferral with an element of cash incentives ‘at risk’ as capital commitments.

Long term incentive plan
The long term incentive plan performance measure and targets are chosen to align with value creation for shareholders. Long 
term incentive plan awards are based on growth in net asset value per share (NAVps). This creates alignment to one of Beazley’s 
key performance indicators. 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The committee reviews the NAVps targets periodically to ensure they remain appropriate with reference to the internal business 
plan, the external environment and market practice.

In the event that NAVps were to become unsuitable as a performance measure in the opinion of the committee (for example due 
to a change in accounting standards) the committee would substitute a measure which followed broadly similar principles.

Differences in policy from broader employee population
The policy for executive directors follows the same broad principles in place for all employees in Beazley. Differences in policy for 
executive directors and senior management as compared to the broader employee population reflect different market levels for 
seniority, as well as their group responsibilities. For example, incentive performance conditions for executive directors and senior 
management are more closely aligned to group performance, whereas underwriters participate in incentive plans linked to the 
performance of their business area.

All employees in the group may participate in a defined contribution pension plan, and are offered benefits such as private medical 
insurance and permanent health insurance. Beazley also operates all-employee share plans to create staff alignment and promote 
a sense of ownership. 

Illustrations of application of remuneration policy
The charts below set out an illustration of the remuneration policy for 2014 in line with the remuneration policy above and include 
base salary, pension, benefits and incentives.

Note that, as prescribed by the legislation, the illustrations are based on initial award value and therefore do not reflect potential 
share price growth or any dividends received over deferral periods, which may impact the overall value of deferred annual and long 
term remuneration delivered. 

Chief Executive Officer (£’000)
Chief Executive Officer (£’000)

Head of Marine (£’000)

Maximum
Maximum

16% 56%
16% 56%

28%
28%

3,156
3,156

Maximum

18% 60%

22%

2,203

On-plan
On-plan

37% 47%
37% 47%

16% 1,400
16% 1,400

Minimum
Minimum

100% 522
100% 522

On-plan

39% 49%

12% 1,009

Minimum

100% 391

0
0

1,000
1,000

2,000
2,000

3,000
3,000

4,000
4,000

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Minimum remuneration
Minimum remuneration
Annual variable remuneration
Annual variable remuneration

Chief Underwriting Officer (£’000)

Long term remuneration
Long term remuneration

Minimum remuneration
Annual variable remuneration

Head of Specialty Lines (£’000)

Long term remuneration

Maximum

18% 60%

22%

2,208

Maximum

18% 60%

22%

2,201

On-plan

39% 49%

12% 1,013

On-plan

39% 49%

12% 1,007

Minimum

100% 395

Minimum

100% 389

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Minimum remuneration
Group Finance Director (£’000)
Annual variable remuneration

Long term remuneration

Maximum

18% 60%

22%

2,046

On-plan

39% 49%

12% 937

Minimum

100% 363

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Minimum remuneration
Annual variable remuneration

Long term remuneration

Element

Base salary
Pension
Benefits

Fixed remuneration

Annual variable remuneration  
(cash and deferred shares*)
Long term remuneration (LTIP)*

*  Excludes share price growth and dividends.

Minimum remuneration
Annual variable remuneration

Long term remuneration

‘Minimum’

‘On-plan’

‘Maximum’

Annual base salary
15% of base salary

Taxable value of annual benefits provided

0% of salary

150% of salary

400% of salary

0% vesting

25% vesting

100% vesting

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Approach to recruitment remuneration
The committee would have regard to the following principles when agreeing the components of a remuneration package upon  
the recruitment of a new director:
• in order to facilitate the future success of the company it is important that we are able to recruit directors of the calibre required 

to deliver our strategic priorities. Although the company operates in a highly competitive market for executive talent, the 
committee remains conscious of the need to avoid paying more than is necessary on recruitment;

•  the committee will, so far as practical, seek to align the remuneration package for any incoming executive with the policy  

set out in the table on page 79;

•  on recruitment salaries will be set to take into account role and responsibilities. For interim positions a cash supplement  

may be paid rather than salary (for example a non-executive director taking on an executive function on a short-term basis);
•  the committee may, on appointing an executive director, need to ‘buy out’ remuneration arrangements forfeited on joining  

the company;

•  any buyout would take into account the terms of the arrangements (e.g. form of award, performance conditions, timeframe) 
being forfeited in the previous package. The form of any award would be determined at the time and the committee may if 
necessary make use of LR 9.4.2 of the Listing Rules (for the purpose of buyout awards only). The committee would seek to 
structure buyout awards to be in line with Beazley’s remuneration framework so far as practical. The overriding principle will  
be that any replacement buyout awards would be of comparable commercial value to the awards which have been forfeited; 
•  all buyout awards would normally be liable to forfeiture or ‘clawback’ on early departure. For executive directors early departure 

is defined as being within the first two years of employment;

•  the maximum level of variable remuneration which may be granted in the first year (excluding buyouts) is in line with the 

aggregate maximums set out in the policy table. The committee retains the flexibility to determine that for the first year of 
appointment any annual bonus award will be subject to such conditions as it may determine; and

•  where an executive is appointed from within the organisation, the normal policy of the company is that any legacy arrangements 

would be honoured in line with the original terms and conditions. Similarly, if an executive director is appointed following 
Beazley’s acquisition of or merger with another company, legacy terms and conditions would be honoured.

Service contracts and loss of office payment policy
Executive directors have service contracts with Beazley Management Limited. In June 2009, following the redomiciliation to 
Ireland, the directors were issued with new service contracts from Beazley Management Limited and appointment letters as 
directors of Beazley plc. 

It is company policy that such service contracts with executive directors contain notice periods, from the company or employee,  
of not more than 12 months. The company may at its absolute discretion elect to terminate an executive director’s employment  
by making a payment in lieu of notice of the individual’s salary for that period. 

Subject to these notice requirements, there is no provision in the service agreements for compensation to be payable on early 
termination of the contract. The committee has discretion to structure any compensation payments in such a way as it deems 
appropriate taking into account the circumstances of departure. Any payments of compensation will be subject to negotiation  
and the group policy includes consideration of appropriate mitigation, including phasing of payments. 

The current contracts in place for executive directors are as follows:

M L Bride
A P Cox
D A Horton 
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn 

Date of contract
9 Jun 2009
6 Dec 2010
9 Jun 2009
9 Jun 2009
9 Jun 2009

The notice period for each of the above contracts is 12 months. There is no unexpired term as each of the executive directors’ 
contracts is on a rolling basis.

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Governance

Financial statements

In the event of a director’s departure any outstanding share awards will be treated in accordance with the relevant plan rules.  
The following principles apply for the treatment of remuneration elements following loss of office for a director:

Remuneration element
Bonus

Deferred shares 

Treatment upon loss of office
There is no automatic entitlement to annual bonus. Taking into account the circumstances of leaving,  
the committee retains the discretion to award a bonus in respect of performance in the financial year 
with appropriate consideration of time pro-rating. 
If a director ceases office or employment with the group any unvested awards will lapse unless the 
individual is a good leaver.

Good leaver circumstances are cessation by reason of injury, ill-health, permanent disability or retirement 
(with the agreement of the employing company) and, if the committee so determines, redundancy, the 
sale of the individual’s employing company or business out of the group, or such other circumstances as 
the committee may determine. In these good leaver circumstances awards may vest in full or be time  
pro-rated, and be delivered on cessation or at the normal time.

Conditional shares

Staff underwriting 
participation plan

2009 LTIP

If a director dies his awards will vest in full.
For the conditional awards made at the time of M L Bride’s recruitment, good leaver circumstances are 
as for deferred shares (above) except that the committee may determine the extent and the terms on 
which shares may vest.
For leavers, profit results are payable in respect of years of account commencing before cessation.  
A participant receives repayment of notional capital invested reduced by any loss result for the relevant 
year of account. 
If a director ceases office or employment with the group any unvested awards will lapse unless the 
individual is a good leaver.

If a participant dies his personal representatives may exercise his awards.

Good leavers are those participants who leave by reason of injury, ill-health, disability, retirement (with 
the agreement of the employing company), the sale of the individual’s employing company or business 
out of the group or such other circumstances as the committee may determine.

2012 LTIP and MSIP

For good leavers awards are time pro-rated and the performance condition is tested at cessation.
If a director ceases office or employment with the group any unvested awards will lapse unless the 
individual is a good leaver.

An individual is a good leaver if employment ceases because of death, ill-health, injury, disability, the  
sale of the individual’s employing company or business out of the group or for any other reason at the 
committee’s discretion (except where a participant is dismissed lawfully without notice). Awards will vest 
on the normal vesting date, unless the committee determines that awards should vest at the time the 
individual ceases employment. If the participant dies awards will vest as soon as practicable after the 
date of death. 

Pension

Awards will vest taking into account the satisfaction of any performance condition and, unless the 
committee determines otherwise, the period of time that has elapsed since the award was granted until 
the date of cessation of employment. 
The director will be eligible to receive the standard 15% of salary contribution to the defined contribution 
pension plan during the notice period or cash equivalent. 

Under the Beazley Furlonge Limited Final Salary Pension Scheme, on early retirement the director 
receives a pension which is reduced to reflect early payment in accordance with the rules of the scheme.
Leavers will be treated in accordance with the approved plan rules.

HMRC approved 
all-employee plans  
(or equivalent overseas 
plans)
Recruitment awards 
under LR 9.4.2

Were a buyout award to be made under LR 9.4.2 then the leaver provisions would be determined at the 
time of award.

In the event of a change of control or winding up of the company, treatment of share awards will be in accordance with the relevant 
plan rules.

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81

Directors’ remuneration report continued

Non-executive directors’ fee policy and service contracts ▪
Details of the non-executive directors’ terms of appointment are set out below:

G P Blunden 
A Crawford-Ingle
D Holt 
P J O’Connor 
V J Sheridan 
K P Sroka 
R A W Tolle 

Commencement 
date of appointment
1 Jan 2010

Expires
AGM 2016
27 Mar 2013  AGM 2016
21 Jul 2011  AGM 2015
20 Mar 2009  AGM 2015
9 Jun 2009  AGM 2016
12 Nov 2010  AGM 2017
6 Dec 2010  AGM 2017

With effect from 2012 the standard approach for non-executive director appointment is that the appointment expires at the AGM 
following the end of the 3 year term, notwithstanding the fact each director is subject to annual re-election at each AGM. 

Consideration of conditions elsewhere in the company
As part of the regular cycle, the committee is informed of pay and employment conditions of wider employees in the group and 
takes these into account when determining the remuneration for executive directors. While the review includes various statistics 
on the outcome of the wider employee pay review, the review does not currently include any direct comparison measures between 
executive directors and wider employee pay. The company does not consult with employees on executive director remuneration.

Consideration of shareholders views
The remuneration committee also regularly reviews guidance from shareholder advisory bodies such as the ABI, NAPF and ISS. 
Recent changes to our policy such as the introduction of a bonus cap have been incorporated into our policies as a result of these 
reviews. The committee undertook a gap analysis of our policy against the guidance from these bodies in May 2013.

The committee has consulted with shareholders on a number of occasions regarding remuneration policy, and shareholder views 
were taken into account during the formation of policy. 

Minor changes
The committee may make minor amendments to the policy set out above (for regulatory, exchange control, tax, administrative 
purposes or to take account of a change in legislation) without obtaining shareholder approval for that amendment.

Annual remuneration report
Remuneration principles
The remuneration committee has oversight of the remuneration policy. The general philosophy underlying the reward strategy  
for executive directors is the same as that applied to all other employees. Pay and employment conditions elsewhere in the 
company and data on comparable positions in other similar organisations are taken into consideration when determining 
executive directors’ remuneration. The main aim of the policy is to ensure that management and staff are remunerated fairly  
and in such a manner as to facilitate the recruitment, retention and motivation of suitably qualified personnel.

We believe that:
• performance-related remuneration is an essential motivation to management and staff and should be structured to ensure  

that executives’ interests are aligned with shareholders;

• individual rewards should reflect the group objectives but be dependent on the profitability of the group and should be 

appropriately balanced against risk considerations;

• the structures of packages should support meritocracy, an important part of Beazley’s culture
• reward potentials should be market-competitive; and
• executives’ pay should include an element of downside risk. 

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Governance

Financial statements

Elements of remuneration

Base salary

Benefits

Pension

Annual bonus

• Salary increases generally in line with all-employee 

increases

• Benefits include private medical insurance, travel 
insurance, company car or monthly allowance

• Defined contribution pension plan or cash 

equivalent

Deferral into shares

Deferral into underwriting

•  Discretionary annual bonus from an incentive pool 
generated by reference to return on equity and 
awarded based on individual performance

Long-term Incentive Plan

•  Three and five year LTIP time horizons
• Performance against long-term NAVps targets

Shareholding guidelines

• LTIP awards may be forfeited if shareholding 

guidelines aren’t met

Risk and reward at Beazley
The committee regularly reviews developing remuneration governance in the context of Solvency II remuneration guidance, other 
corporate governance developments and institutional shareholders’ guidance. The committee continues to review remuneration 
against various guidelines and to monitor developments. The chief risk officer reports annually to the remuneration committee  
on risk and remuneration as part of the regular agenda. The committee believes the group is adopting an approach which is 
consistent with and takes account of the risk profile of the group. We believe reward at Beazley is appropriately balanced in light  
of risk considerations, particularly taking into account the following features:

Features aligned with risk considerations
Share deferral

Extended performance 
periods 
Shareholding 
requirements

Investment in 
underwriting

Underwriters’ 
remuneration aligned 
with profit achieved 

‘Clawback’ of deferred 
and LTIP shares

A portion of bonus is normally deferred into shares for three years. These deferred shares, together with 
shares awarded under the LTIP, mean that a significant portion of total remuneration is delivered in the 
form of shares deferred for a period of years.
A portion of the LTIP has performance measured over an extended five-year period, in line with the 
Walker recommendations and FCA guidelines.
Executive directors are expected to build up and maintain a shareholding of 150% of salary (200% for 
the CEO).

LTIP awards may be forfeited if shareholding requirements are not met.
Management and underwriters defer part of their bonuses into the Beazley staff underwriting plan 
providing alignment with capital providers. Capital commitments can be lost if underwriting performance 
is poor.
Under the profit related bonus plan payments are aligned with the timing of profits achieved on the 
account. For long-tail accounts this may be in excess of six years. 

If the account deteriorates then payouts are ‘clawed back’ through adjustments to future payments. 
From 2012 onwards any new profit related pay plans may be at risk of forfeiture or reduction if, in the 
opinion of the remuneration committee, there has been a serious regulatory breach by the underwriter 
concerned, including the group’s policy on treating customers fairly (TCF).
For deferred share awards and LTIP awards (from 2012) a ‘clawback’ (malus) provision has been 
introduced, so that unvested shares may be forfeited in certain circumstances, including material 
misstatement of accounts or significant adverse company performance developments. 

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Single total figure of remuneration ▪
The following tables set out the single figure for total remuneration for directors for the financial years ending 31 December 2013 
and 31 December 2012:

Executive directors

Fixed pay

Pay for performance

£

M L Bride

A P Cox3

J G Gray2

D A Horton 

N P Maidment

C A Washbourn

Benefits
Salary
11,377
2013 300,000
2012 270,000
11,320
2013 320,000 102,537
11,081
2012 270,000
2013 160,208
8,068
16,173
2012 315,000
16,852
2013  430,500
16,505
2012 420,000
16,336
2013  323,000
16,237
2012 315,000
11,967
2013  323,000
11,761
2012 315,000

Pension

Cash 
bonus

Bonus
 deferred 
into shares
45,000 533,000 267,000
40,500 354,000 180,000
48,000 600,000 300,000
40,500 560,000 240,000
24,031 160,208
–
47,354 400,000 100,000
64,575 1,076,250 523,750
63,000 840,000 360,000
48,450 800,000 400,000
47,250 630,000 270,000
48,742 800,000 400,000
47,542 840,000 360,000

Bonus 
deferred
 into staff
 underwriting1

Total 
annual 
bonus

LTI

Total
 remuneration
– 800,000 340,849 1,497,226
66,000 600,000 308,233 1,230,053
1,711,386
– 900,000 340,849
1,429,814
– 800,000 308,233
– 160,208 409,017
761,532
– 500,000 369,879 1,248,406
2,839,070
– 1,600,000 727,143
– 1,200,000 640,068
2,339,573
– 1,200,000 409,017 1,996,803
– 900,000 369,879 1,648,366
1,992,726
– 1,200,000 409,017
– 1,200,000 369,879 1,944,182

1  The directors may defer a portion of annual bonus awarded in the year into the staff underwriting plan.
2   Mr Gray stepped down from the board on 1 July 2013. He remains employed by the group. Figures in the table above have been pro-rated to reflect the six months 

during which he was an executive director, with the exception of the LTI award vesting in respect of the year, which is shown in full. 

3   Benefits for Mr Cox in 2013 included allowance of £92,328 in respect of his relocation to US. This included housing allowance of £27,763, relocation allowance  

of £26,667 and tax gross up of the benefit of £26,963.

Non-executive directors

£

G P Blunden

A D Crawford-Ingle2

A G K Hamilton3

D Holt4

P O’Connor5

V J Sheridan5

K Sroka

R A W Tolle

2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012

Total fees1
76,250
74,250
65,302
–
20,558
83,500
158,250
134,206
72,458
67,886
61,864
57,927
53,750
52,500
77,500
71,797

1   Other than for the chairman, fees include fees paid for chairmanship of the audit and risk and remuneration committees, and for the role of senior independent 
director, as well as fees, where relevant, for members of subsidiary board of Beazley Furlonge Limited (BFL), Beazley Re Limited and chairmanship of BFL audit  
and risk committee.

2  Mrs Crawford-Ingle was appointed to the board on 27 March 2013 and the figure in the table above represents her fees from this date.
3  Mr Hamilton stood down as non-executive director on 27 March 2013 and the figure in the table above represents his fees to this date. 
4   Mr Holt took up the position of non-executive chairman following the annual general meeting in March 2012 and the figure for 2012 in the above table includes 

fees relating to this appointment from this date.

5   For Mr O’Connor and Mr Sheridan, their non-executive director fee was based on €85,500 and €73,000 respectively and has been converted into sterling for  

this table at the average exchange rate of 1.18.

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Performance charts

Profit before tax ($m)

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

313

251

63

2011

2012

2013

Return on equity (%)

24
20
16
12
8
4
0

19%

21%

6%

2011

2012

2013

Net assets per share (c)

Share price (p) 

300

240

180

120

60

0

26%

254

278

230

2011

2012

2013

240
200
160
120
80
40
0

103p
137p

Share price at grant
Share price appreciation

Salary ▪
The committee reviews salaries annually taking into consideration any changes in role and responsibilities, development of the 
individual in the role and levels in comparable positions in similar financial service companies. It also considers the performance 
of the group and the individual as well as the average salary increase for employees across the whole group. Salary reviews take 
place in December of each year, with new salaries effective from 1 January. 

As reported last year, for 2013, Martin Bride and Adrian Cox, received salary increases to reflect development in their roles, and  
a policy of lower starting salary positioning with a move to market rate following sustained performance. The average salary 
increase for the other executive directors was 2.5%, which was below the average salary increases across the group.

For 2014, the average salary increase for executive directors is 2.2%, which was below the average salary increases across the 
group. 

The annualised base salaries for 2013 and 2014 are as set out below:

M L Bride
A P Cox
D A Horton 
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn

2013 
base salary
£
300,000
320,000
430,500
323,000
323,000

2014 
base salary
£
306,000
329,500
439,110
329,500
329,500

Increase
%
2.0
3.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

Benefits ▪
Benefits include private medical insurance for the director and his immediate family, income protection insurance, death in service 
benefit at four times annual salary, travel insurance, health-club membership, season ticket and the provision of either a company 
car or a monthly car allowance. Adrian Cox was asked to relocate to the US and his benefits also include relocation and expatriate 
benefits, as set out in the notes to the single total figure of remuneration table.

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Annual report 2013

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Annual bonus plans ▪
The enterprise bonus plan is a discretionary plan in which all employees are eligible to participate. The framework for determining 
bonuses is as follows:
• a pool is based on a percentage of profit subject to a minimum group return on equity;
• the percentage of profit increases for higher levels of ROE;
• determination of bonus then takes into account individual contribution and divisional performance; and
• the bonus is discretionary, rather than a prescriptive formulaic framework, and the committee considers wider factors in its 

deliberations at the end of the year, for example quality of profit.

For heads of divisions, a bonus may be awarded outside of the incentive pool, in circumstances where the performance of  
a division in relation to the group is very strong.

The approach to the calculation of bonuses is aligned to shareholders’ interests and ensures that bonuses are affordable, while 
the ROE targets increase the performance gearing. Given this overall structure, there is no specific weighting between measures.
The committee reviews the bonus pool framework each year to ensure it remains appropriate, taking into account the prevailing 
environment, interest rates and expected investment returns, headcount and any other relevant factors. 

Performance out-turn for 2013
The following table sets out the out-turn for 2013 against performance.

2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008

Average
executive
director
bonus as a
percentage
of salary
c.333%
c.272%
c.64%
c.230%
c.230%
c.75%

Pre-tax
 profit*
$313m
$251m
$63m
$217m
$231m
$76m

Post-tax
 ROE
21%
19%
6%
19%
24%
8%

*  Profit for years prior to 2010 has been converted from sterling based on the average prevailing exchange rate for that year.

The board considers that specific details of the ROE framework, as well as individual and divisional performance, are matters 
which are commercially sensitive and should therefore remain confidential to the company. The reason for this decision is that 
Beazley operates in a highly competitive market that is people and relationship driven. The disclosure of these specific details 
would, in the view of the board, expose the group to an undue commercial risk. 

The following graph illustrates the way in which bonuses over time reflect profit and ROE performance.

Average executive director bonus payout (% of salary)

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

350%
300%
250%
200%
150%
100%
50%
0%

Profit Before Tax (PBT) $
Executive director bonus as a % of salary

In line with the framework, annual bonus out-turns vary significantly with performance achieved for the year. The annual bonus 
out-turns for executive directors for 2013 reflected Beazley’s excellent ROE and PBT performance for the year. 

86 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Bonus Deferral ▪
A portion of the bonus will generally be deferred into shares for three years. The deferral will range from 0% to 37.5% dependent 
on the level of bonus. Deferred shares are generally subject to continued employment. Deferred share awards include a malus 
provision. The committee may determine that unvested shares will be forfeited in certain circumstances, such as a material 
misstatement of accounts or a significant adverse group development. 

A portion of bonus may also be deferred under the investment in underwriting plan, and this capital can be lost if underwriting 
performance is poor (see below for further details). 

For 2013, the portion of each director’s annual bonus deferred into shares and the investment in underwriting plan were  
as follows:

M L Bride
A P Cox
J G Gray
D A Horton 
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn

Deferred 
under the
 Beazley staff
underwriting
 plan
–
–
–
–
–
–

Deferred 
into shares
£267,000
£300,000
–
£523,750
£400,000
£400,000

Long-term incentive plan (LTIP) ▪
Under the LTIP, executive directors, senior management and underwriters receive awards of shares subject to the achievement  
of stretching performance conditions measured over three and five years. 

The key features of the plan are as follows:
• 50% of the award is measured after three years and 50% after five years;
• awards are in the form of nil-cost options with a ten-year term; and
• participants are expected to build a shareholding in Beazley equal to their annual award level. For example the CEO has a 
shareholding requirement of 200% of salary. Participants have three years to build this shareholding. LTIP awards may be 
forfeited if shareholding requirements are not met. 

In good leaver circumstances and on change of control, vesting of awards take into account time and performance.

Vesting of awards is based on growth in net asset value per share (NAVps), one of Beazley’s key performance indicators. The 
committee considers the LTIP NAVps growth targets to be very stretching, particularly taking into account that growth must be  
over a sustained three and five year period.

Growth in NAVps is calculated taking into account any payment of dividends by the company. In line with our reporting to 
shareholders, NAVps is denominated in US dollars. The targets are equivalent to those that applied in 2012. 

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87

Directors’ remuneration report continued

Awards vesting in respect of the year ▪
The LTIP awards shown in the single figure are due to vest on 14 February 2014. These awards were granted on 14 February 2011 
and were subject to the achievement of the following NAVps growth performance condition over the three years ended  
31 December 2013:

NAVps performance
NAVps growth < risk-free rate +10% p.a.
NAVps growth = risk-free rate +10% p.a.
NAVps growth = risk-free rate +15% p.a.
Straight-line vesting between points

% of 
award vesting
0%
25%
100%

Actual NAVps growth achieved in the three years to 31 December 2013 was 16.1% p.a. which resulted in 100% of awards vesting. 
The results were independently calculated by Deloitte LLP.

The graph below illustrates Beazley’s NAVps and TSR performance over the period, where the shaded area represents the LTIP 
NAVps growth target range for awards to vest.

LTIP performance 2010-2013 NAV and TSR growth
225% 

180% 

135% 

90% 

45% 

0% 

31 Dec
2010

31 Dec
2011

31 Dec
2012

31 Dec
2013

NAV target range (RFR +10% p.a. to RFR +15% p.a.)
TSR growth (1 month average)
NAV growth (including dividends)

Awards granted during the year ▪
During 2013 the following long-term share awards were granted:

Type of interest

Individual
LTIP
M L Bride
A P Cox
J G Gray
D A Horton 
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn
Marine Share Incentive Plan2
C A Washbourn

Nil cost option (LTIP)
Nil cost option (LTIP)
Nil cost option (LTIP)
Nil cost option (LTIP)
Nil cost option (LTIP)
Nil cost option (LTIP)

Basis on 
which award 
made

Number 
of shares
 awarded

Face value 
of shares (£)1

% Vesting 
at threshold

Performance period end

Three years (50%)

Five years (50%)

150% of salary
150% of salary
150% of salary
200% of salary
150% of salary
150% of salary

220,372
235,064
237,268
421,645
237,268
237,268

450,000
480,000
484,500
861,000
484,500
484,500

10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017
10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017
10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017
10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017
10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017
10% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017

Nil cost option (MSIP) Two tranches of 
500,000 shares

1,000,000

2,178,000

20% 31/12/2015 31/12/2017

1  The face value of shares awarded was calculated using the three day average share price prior to grant, which was 204.2p for the LTIP and 217.8p for MSIP.
2  Details of the Marine Share Incentive Plan are set out in the the Policy Report, under legacy matters in the remuneration policy table. 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

The performance condition for LTIP awards was as follows:

NAVps performance
NAVps growth < risk-free rate +7.5% p.a.
NAVps growth = risk-free rate +7.5% p.a.
NAVps growth = risk-free rate +10% p.a.
NAVps growth = risk-free rate +15% p.a.
Straight-line vesting between points

% of 
award vesting
0%
10%
25%
100%

Awards for 2014 ▪
It is intended that the LTIP awards for 2014 will be in line with those granted in 2013 (see above). 

Dilution
The share plans permit 10% of the company’s issued share capital to be issued pursuant to awards under the LTIP, SAYE and 
option plan in a ten-year period. 

Following the adoption of the 2012 LTIP, the company adheres to a dilution limit of 5% in a ten-year period for executive schemes.

Investment in underwriting ▪
Traditionally, Lloyd’s underwriters contributed their personal capital to syndicates in which they worked. With the move to 
corporate provision of capital, individual membership of Lloyd’s has declined significantly. The committee feels that having 
personal capital at risk in the syndicate is an important part of the remuneration policy and provides a healthy counterbalance to 
incentivisation through bonuses and long-term incentive awards. The company has operated the Beazley Staff Underwriting Plan 
for this purpose since 2004 and executive directors and other selected staff are invited to participate through bonus deferral with 
an element of their cash incentives ‘at risk’ as capital commitments. These capital commitments can be lost in full if underwriting 
performance is poor.

The group funds the capital for the scheme. The individual capital commitment is then funded through individual bonus deferral. 
The aim is for individuals to fund their capital within three years.

To date over 170 employees of the group have committed to put at risk £8.0m of bonuses to the underwriting results of syndicate 
623. Of the total at risk, £7.1m has already been deferred from the bonuses awarded.

The following directors participated in syndicate 623 through Beazley Staff Underwriting Limited:

M L Bride
A P Cox
D A Horton 
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn

Total
bonuses
deferred
and at risk 
£
199,000
199,000
199,000
199,000
199,000

2012
year of
account
underwriting
 capacity 
£
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000

2013
year of
account
underwriting
 capacity 
£
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000

2014
year of
account
underwriting
 capacity 
£
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000
400,000

Pensions ▪
The pension benefits for directors and staff are provided by way of a defined contribution scheme arranged through Fidelity, which 
is non-contributory. The company contributes 15% of salary for directors. 

Following changes to pension tax legislation that came into force from April 2011, an equivalent cash alternative may be offered  
if an individual exceeds the lifetime or annual allowance. 

Prior to 31 March 2006 the company provided pension entitlements to directors that are defined benefit in nature, based on its 
legacy policy under the Beazley Furlonge Limited Final Salary Pension Scheme. Future service accruals ceased on 31 March 2006. 
Only base salary is pensionable, subject to an earnings cap. The normal retirement age for pension calculation purposes is  
60 years. A spouse’s pension is the equivalent of two-thirds of the member’s pension (before any commutation) payable on the 
member’s death after retirement.

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Annual report 2013

89

Directors’ remuneration report continued

Details of the defined benefit entitlements of those who served as directors during the year are as follows: 

Accrued
benefit at 
31 Dec
 2013
£
11,809
32,057
40,315
17,918

Increase
in accrued
 benefits
excluding
 inflation (A)
£
–
–
–
–

Increase 
in accrued
 benefits
 including
 inflation
£
402
–
1,375
611

Transfer
 value of (A)
 less
directors’
contributions
£
–
–
–
–

Transfer
 value
of accrued
 benefits at
31 Dec
2013
£
221,884
836,352
882,230
416,286

Increase in
transfer
 value less
 directors’
contributions
£
35,371
27,474
130,272
67,249

Normal 
retirement date
12 Mar 2031
3 Jun 2013
21 Oct 2022
26 Oct 2020

A P Cox
J G Gray
N P Maidment
C A Washbourn

Under the Beazley Furlonge Limited Final Salary Pension Scheme, on early retirement the director receives a pension which is 
reduced to reflect early payment in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

No other pension provisions are made. 

Payments for loss of office 
No loss of office payments have been made in the year.

External appointments
Andrew Horton has been appointed as a non-executive director of Man Group plc, with effect from 3 August 2013 and he retains 
the fees in respect of this appointment. Fees for the year were £32,821.

Non-executive directors’ fees
The fees of non-executive directors are determined by the board. When setting fee levels consideration is given to levels in 
comparable companies for comparable services in addition to the time commitment and responsibilities of the individual director. 
No non-executive director is involved in the determination of their fees. The board reviews fees annually.

No non-executive director participates in the group’s incentive arrangements or pension plan.

Non-executive directors are appointed for fixed terms, normally for three years, and may be reappointed for future terms. Non-
executive directors are typically appointed through a selection process that assesses whether the candidate brings the desired 
competence and skills to the group. The board has identified several key competencies for non-executive directors to complement 
the existing skill-set of the executive directors. These competencies may include:
• insurance sector expertise;
• asset management skills;
• public company and corporate governance experience; 
• risk management skills;
• finance skills; and
• IT and operations.

Beazley operates across Lloyd’s and the US markets through a variety of legal entities and structures. Non-executive directors,  
in addition to the plc board, typically sit on either one of our key subsidiary boards, ie BFL, our managing agency at Lloyd’s, or 
Beazley Re Limited, our reinsurance company. As a result of developments in regulation, the degree of autonomy in the operation 
of each board has increased in recent years, with a consequent increase in time commitment and scope of the role. 

90 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Approach to remuneration for employees’ other than directors
The committee also has oversight of remuneration arrangements elsewhere in the group. The following tables set out the 
additional incentive arrangements for other staff within the organisation. 

Other incentive arrangements at Beazley (not applicable to executive directors)
Element
Profit related 
pay plan 
Support 
bonus plan 

Objective
To align underwriters’ reward with  
the profitability of their account.
To align staff bonus with individual 
performance and achievement of 
objectives.

Retention shares

To retain key staff.

Summary
Profit on the relevant underwriting account as measured at three 
years and later. 
Participation is limited to staff members not on the executive  
or in receipt of profit related pay bonus. The support bonus  
pool may be enhanced by a contribution from the enterprise 
bonus pool.
Used in certain circumstances. Full vesting dependent on 
continued employment over six years.

Underwriter bonus plan – profit related pay plan
Underwriters participate in a profit related pay plan based upon the profitability of their underwriting account. Executive directors 
do not participate in this plan. 

The objective of the plan is to align the interests of the group and the individual through aligning an underwriter’s reward to the 
long-term profitability of their portfolio. 

Underwriters who have significant influence over a portfolio may be offered awards under the plan. There is no automatic eligibility. 
Profit related pay is awarded irrespective of the results of the group and is capped at a maximum of 150% of salary.

This bonus is awarded as cash and is based upon a fixed proportion of profit achieved on the relevant underwriting account as 
measured at three years and later. Any movements in prior years are reflected in future year payments as the accounts develop 
after three years. For long-tail accounts the class is still relatively immature at the three-year stage and therefore payments will  
be modest. Underwriters may receive further payouts in years four, five and six (and even later) as the account matures. Therefore 
each year they could be receiving payouts in relation to multiple underwriting years. 

If the account deteriorates as it develops any payouts are ‘clawed back’ through reductions in future profit related pay bonuses. 
From 2012 onwards any new profit related pay plans may be at risk of forfeiture or reduction if, in the opinion of the remuneration 
committee, there has been a serious regulatory breach by the underwriter concerned, including the group’s policy on TCF.

The fixed proportion is calculated based upon profit targets which are set through the business planning process and reviewed  
by a committee formed of executive committee members and functional specialists including the group actuary. Underwriting risk 
is taken into account when setting profit targets.

In addition to profit related pay, underwriters are also eligible to receive a discretionary bonus, based upon performance, from  
the enterprise bonus pool. A proportion of this bonus may be paid in deferred shares, which vest after three years subject to 
continued employment.

Support bonus plan
Employees who are not members of the executive and who do not participate in the underwriters’ profit related pay plan 
participate in a discretionary bonus pool. This pool provides the employees with a discretionary award of an annual performance 
bonus that reflects overall individual performance including meeting annual objectives.

A proportion of this award may also be dependent on the group’s return on equity and therefore allocated from the enterprise 
bonus pool. A proportion of this bonus may be paid in deferred shares, which vest after three years subject to continued 
employment.

SAYE
The company operates an HMRC-approved SAYE scheme for the benefit of UK-based employees. The scheme offers a three-year 
savings contract period with options being offered at a 20% discount to the share price on grant. Monthly contributions are made 
through payroll deduction on behalf of participating employees. 

www.beazley.com

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Annual report 2013

91

Directors’ remuneration report continued

US SAYE
The Beazley plc savings-related share option plan for US employees permits all eligible US-based employees to purchase shares  
of Beazley plc at a discount of up to 15% to the shares’ fair market value. Participants may exercise options after a two-year 
period. The plan is compliant with the terms of Section 423 of the US Internal Revenue Code and is similar to the SAYE scheme 
operated for UK-based Beazley employees.

Retention shares
The retention plan may be used for recruitment or retention purposes. Any awards vest at 25% per annum over years three to six. 
Policy going forward is that existing executive directors do not participate in this plan and no executive directors have subsisting 
legacy awards outstanding. 

CEO pay increase in relation to all employees

CEO
All-employees

Percentage change in remuneration from 31/12/2012 to 31/12/2013

Percentage change in base salary %  

2.0%
3.1%

Percentage change in benefits %
2.4%
4.4%

Percentage change in annual bonus %
33.3%
36.2%

Note: Salary and bonus is compared against all employees of the group. Benefits (including pension) are compared against all UK employees, reflecting the group’s 
policy that benefits are provided by reference to local market levels.

Statement of directors’ shareholding and share interests ▪
LTIP participants are expected to build a shareholding in Beazley equal to their annual award level. The CEO has a shareholding 
requirement of 200% of salary and other executive directors have a shareholding requirement of 150% of salary. LTIP awards  
may be forfeited if shareholding requirements are not met. All executive directors have met their shareholding requirements.

The table below shows the total number of directors’ interests in shares as at 31 December 2013 or date of cessation as  
a director.

Unvested awards

Vested awards

Name
G P Blunden
M L Bride
A P Cox
J G Gray
A G K Hamilton
D Holt
D A Horton
A Crawford- Ingle
N P Maidment
P J O'Connor
V J Sheridan
K P Sroka
R A W Tolle
C A Washbourn

Number of
 shares owned
 (including
 connected
 persons)
50,000
350,000
581,985
759,549
37,991
50,000
1,630,087
13,500
3,817,523
30,000
20,000
–
60,000
610,331

Conditional
 shares not
 subject to
 performance
 conditions
 (deferred 
shares 
and retention
 shares)
–

Nil cost options
 subject to
 performance 
conditions (LTIP
 and MSIP
 awards)
–
194,527 1,040,890
980,582
261,589
1,122,476
156,703
–
–
–
–
381,610 1,985,423
–
1,122,476
–
–
–
–
2,122,476

–
296,472
–
–
–
–
378,226

Options over
 shares subject
 to savings
 contracts (SAYE)
–
5,311
-
5,311
–
–
8,100
–
5,311
–
–
–
–
8,100

Unexercised 
nil cost options
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Options
 exercised in 
the year
–
388,996
333,286
293,749
–
–
800,780
–
374,303
–
–
–
–
410,354

No changes in the interests of directors have occurred between 31 December 2013 and 5 February 2014.

92 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

CEO pay versus performance
Total shareholder return* 

The following graph sets out Beazley’s five year total shareholder return performance to 31 December 2013, compared with  
FTSE All share and FTSE 350 Non-life insurance indices. These indices were chosen as comparators as they comprise companies 
listed on the same exchange and, in the case of the Non-life insurance index, the same sector as Beazley. 

Total shareholder return performance*
Value of £100 invested on 31st December 2008

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

08

09

10

11

12

13

Beazley

FTSE All share

FTSE 350 Non-life insurance

Historical CEO payouts

Year
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

CEO single 
figure of total
 remuneration
£1,458,131
£1,525,102
£1,008,669
£2,339,573
£2,839,070

Annual 
variable
 award 
(% of maximum
opportunity)*
71%
63%
14%
71%
93%

Long-term
 incentives
 vesting 
(% of maximum
 opportunity)
50%
50%
99%
84%
100%

*   Note: An individual overall cap of 400% of salary was introduced from 2013. Prior to this date and in line with industry practice, there was no formal limit on 

individual bonuses. To enable comparison, the above graphs assume that a maximum annual variable award of 400% of salary also applied for years prior to 2013.

Relative importance of spend on pay
The following table shows the relative spend on pay compared to distributions to shareholders.

2012
2013

Shareholder 
distributions
 (dividends 
in respect of 
the year)
$136.4m
$207.6m

Overall
expenditure 
on pay
$161.1m
$184.8m

Remuneration committee 
The committee consists of only non-executive directors and during the year the members included, Padraic O’Connor (chairman), 
George Blunden, Dennis Holt and Ken Sroka. The board views each of these directors as independent. The committee met six 
times during the year. 

The committee considers the individual remuneration packages of the chief executive, executive directors and executive 
committee members. It also has oversight of the salary and bonus awards of individuals outside the executive committee who 
either directly report to executive committee members or who have basic salaries over £200,000, as well as the overall bonus 
pool and total incentives paid by the group. The terms of reference of the committee are available on the company’s website.
During the year the committee was advised by remuneration consultants from Deloitte LLP. Total fees in relation to executive 
remuneration consulting was £136,000. Deloitte LLP also provided advice in relation to overseas tax, assurance support, share 
schemes and board processes.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

93

Directors’ remuneration report continued

Deloitte LLP were appointed by the committee. Deloitte LLP is a member of the Remuneration Consultants’ Group and as such 
voluntarily operates under the code of conduct in relation to executive remuneration consulting in the UK. The committee agrees 
each year the protocols under which Deloitte LLP provides advice to support independence. The committee is satisfied that the 
advice they have received from Deloitte LLP has been objective and independent.

Input was also received by the committee during the year from the chief executive, head of talent management, the company 
secretary and the chief risk officer. However, no individual plays a part in the determination of their own remuneration.

Statement of shareholder voting
There were two remuneration related shareholder votes at the 2013 AGM and the voting outcomes were as follows:

2012 DRR
Marine Share  
Incentive Plan

Votes for
393,601,233

% for
98.6%

Votes against
5,692,470

% Against
1.4%

Total votes cast
409,920,025

Votes 
discretionary
30,610

Votes withheld
 (abstentions)
10,595,712

262,506,184

67.7% 125,407,636

32.3%

409,920,025

33,360

21,972,845

The Marine Share Incentive Plan was a response to a substantial remuneration-related commercial risk to the business. The 
committee undertook extensive consultation on the proposal with a wide range of Beazley’s largest shareholders and adapted 
elements of the final plan following feedback from these shareholders.

From consultation, the committee considers that the lower voting out-turn in relation to the Marine Share Inventive Plan reflects 
shareholders’ strong reservations, in principle, about awards which are exceptional in nature. The committee found the dialogue 
with shareholders on this, and other remuneration matters, useful and informative for the development of future policy.

The committee is committed to maintaining an on-going dialogue with shareholders on remuneration matters.

Directors’ share plan interests ▪
Details of share plan interests of those directors who served during the period are as follows:

Outstanding
options at
1 Jan 2013

Options
 granted

Options
 exercised

Lapsed
 unvested

Outstanding
options at
31 Dec 2013

Exercice 
price £

Closing share
 price on date 
of exercise £

Earliest 
exercise date

Expiry date

J G Gray
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year 
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
SAYE:
2013

116,604
94,197
13,534
–

– 116,604
–
–
–
–
–
48,972

–
–
–
–

– 2.13572
–
–
–

94,197
13,534
48,972

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

209,888
209,888
172,946
172,946
164,714
164,714

–
–
– 177,145
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 118,634
–
– 118,634

–
32,743
–
–
–
–
–
–

209,888

172,946
172,946
164,714
164,714
118,634
118,634

–
2.10400
–
–
–
–
–
–

– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.11200 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

–

5,311

–

–

5,311 1.69440

– 01/07/2016 01/01/2017

94 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

C A Washbourn
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year 
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
MSIP:
05 Apr 2013 – 5 year 
05 Apr 2013 – 3 year 
SAYE:
2012
A P Cox
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year 
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
Retention shares:
13 Mar 2007

Outstanding
options at
1 Jan 2013

Options
 granted

Options
 exercised

Lapsed
 unvested

Outstanding
options at
31 Dec 2013

Exercice 
price £

Closing share
 price on date 
of exercise £

Earliest 
exercise date

Expiry date

233,209
188,394
13,534

– 233,209
–
–
–
–
–
– 176,298

–
–
–
–

– 2.13572
–
–
–

188,394
13,534
176,298

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

209,888
209,888
172,946
172,946
164,714
164,714

–
–
– 177,145
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 118,634
–
– 118,634

–
32,743
–
–
–
–
–
–

– 500,000
– 500,000

8,100

–

–
–

–

139,925
131,876
12,181

– 139,925
–
–
–
–
–
– 117,532

–
–

–

–
–
–
–

174,907
174,907
144,122
144,122
141,183
141,184

–
–
– 147,621
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 117,532
–
– 117,532

–
27,286
–
–
–
–
–
–

209,888

172,946
172,946
164,714
164,714
118,634
118,634

500,000
500,000

–
2.27500
–
–
–
–
–
–

– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.23200 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

–
–

– 05/04/2018 05/04/2023
– 05/04/2016 05/04/2023

8,100 1.11100

– 01/07/2015 01/01/2016

– 2.13572
–
–
–

131,876
12,181
117,532

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

174,907

–
– 2.10430
–
–
–
–
–
–

144,122
144,122
141,183
141,184
117,532
117,532

– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.11800 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

45,740

–

45,740

–

– 2.10500

2.12300 13/03/2010 13/04/2013

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Annual report 2013

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Directors’ remuneration report continued

Outstanding
options at
1 Jan 2013

Options
 granted

Options
 exercised

Lapsed
 unvested

Outstanding
options at
31 Dec 2013

Exercice 
price £

Closing share
 price on date 
of exercise £

Earliest 
exercise date

Expiry date

261,025

233,209
188,394
16,918

363,207
363,207
307,460
307,460
292,825
292,826

D A Horton
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year 
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
Retention shares:
09 Oct 2007
SAYE:
2012
N P Maidment
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year 209,888
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year 209,888
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year 172,946
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year 172,946
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year 164,714
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year  164,714
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
SAYE:
2010
2013

186,567
150,715
13,534

10,591
–

8,100

– 233,209
–
–
–
–
–
– 176,298

–
–
– 306,546
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 210,823
–
– 210,822

– 261,025

–

–

– 186,567
–
–
–
–
–
– 132,223

–
–
– 177,145
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 118,634
–
– 118,634

–
–
–
–

– 2.13572
–
–
–

188,394
16,918
176,298

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

–
56,661
–
–
–
–
–
–

–

–

–
–
–
–

363,207

–
– 2.10400
–
–
–
–
–
–

307,460
307,460
292,825
292,826
210,823
210,822

– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.11200 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

– 2.02940

2.03500 09/10/2010 09/11/2013

8,100 1.11100

– 01/07/2015 01/01/2016

– 2.13572
–
–
–

150,715
13,534
132,223

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

–
32,743
–
–
–
–
–
–

209,888

172,946
172,946
164,714
164,714
118,634
118,634

–
2.10400
–
–
–
–
–
–

– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.11200 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

10,591
–

5,311

–
–

0.85680
5,311 1.69440

2.23000 01/07/2013 01/01/2014
– 01/07/2016 01/01/201

96 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Outstanding
options at
1 Jan 2013

Options
 granted

Options
 exercised

Lapsed
 unvested

Outstanding
options at
31 Dec 2013

Exercice 
price £

Closing share
 price on date 
of exercise £

Earliest 
exercise date

Expiry date

93,284
94,197
12,181
–

M L Bride
Deferred bonus:
23 Feb 2010
14 Feb 2011 
13 Feb 2012
13 Feb 2013
LTIP (see notes):
100,000
27 Apr 2009
174,907
18 Feb 2010 – 5 year
18 Feb 2010 – 3 year
174,907
14 Feb 2011 – 5 year 144,122
14 Feb 2011 – 3 year 144,122
30 Mar 2012 – 5 year 141,183
30 Mar 2012 – 3 year  141,184
13 Feb 2013 – 5 year
13 Feb 2013 – 3 year 
Conditional Share 
Awards
27 Apr 2009
SAYE: 
2010
2013

10,591
–

112,500

–
–
–
88,149

93,284
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

– 2.13572
–
–
–

94,197
12,181
88,149

2.15400 23/02/2013 23/02/2013
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2014
– 13/02/2015 13/02/2015
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2016

– 100,000
–
–
– 147,621
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– 110,186
–
– 110,186

–
–
27,286
–
–
–
–
–
–

– 2.10400
–
– 2.10400
–
–
–
–
–
–

174,907

144,122
144,122
141,183
141,184
110,186
110,186

2.11200 27/04/2011 27/04/2019
– 18/02/2015 18/02/2020
2.11200 18/02/2013 18/02/2020
– 14/02/2016 14/02/2021
– 14/02/2014 14/02/2021
– 30/03/2017 30/03/2022
– 30/03/2015 30/03/2022
– 13/02/2018 13/02/2023
– 13/02/2016 13/02/2023

–

37,500

–
5,311

10,591
–

–

–
–

75,000

2.2330

2.23600 27/04/2012 27/05/2015

– 0.85680
5,311 1.69440

2.23000 01/07/2013 01/01/2014
– 01/07/2016 01/01/2017

Notes to share plan interests table
1   2010 LTIP award details. Awards were made on 18 February 2010 at a mid-market share price of 107.2p (110.13p D A Horton only). Performance conditions:  
all of the award is subject to NAVps performance, with 50% measured over a three year period and 50% measured over a five year period. The 50% remaining 
award is measured over a five year period. NAVps < RFR+10% p.a. equates to 0% vesting, NAVps = RFR+10% p.a. equates to 25% vesting, NAVps = or > RFR+15% 
p.a. equates to 100% vesting, with straight-line pro-rated vesting between these points.

2    2011 LTIP award details. Awards were made on 14 February 2011 at a mid-market share price of 132.7p. Performance conditions: all of the award is subject  

to NAVps performance, with 50% measured over a three year period and 50% measured over a five year period. NAVps < RFR+10% p.a. equates to 0% vesting,  
NAVps = RFR+10% p.a. equates to 25% vesting, NAVps = or > RFR+15% p.a. equates to 100% vesting, with straight-line pro-rated vesting between these points.
3   2012 LTIP award details. Awards were made on 30 March 2012 at a mid-market share price of 143.43p. Performance conditions: all of the award is subject to 
NAVps performance, with 50% measured over a three year period and 50% measured over a five year period. NAVps < RFR+7.5% p.a. equates to 0% vesting,  
NAVps = RFR+7.5% p.a. equates to 10% vesting, NAVps = RFR+10% p.a. equates to 25% vesting, NAVps = or > RFR+15% p.a. equates to 100% vesting, with 
straight-line pro-rated vesting between these points.

4    2013 LTIP award details. Awards were made on 13 February 2013 at a mid-market share price of 204.2p. Performance conditions: all of the award is subject  
to NAVps performance, with 50% measured over a three year period and 50% measured over a five year period. NAVps < RFR+7.5% p.a. equates to 0% vesting, 
NAVps = RFR+7.5% p.a. equates to 10% vesting, NAVps = RFR+10% p.a. equates to 25% vesting, NAVps = or > RFR+15% p.a. equates to 100% vesting, with 
straight-line pro-rated vesting between these points

5    Shareholding requirements (as part of the LTIP) of 200% of salary for CEO and 150% of salary for other executive directors. To be built up over three years.  

LTIP awards may be forfeited if shareholding requirements are not met. Executive directors have met the shareholding requirements in respect of all unexercised 
share options.

6   Conditional awards were made on 27 April 2009 at the time of M L Bride’s recruitment. The 150,000 shares will vest in four equal tranches on each of the third, 

fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the date of grant .

7   MSIP awards were made on 5 April 2013 to C A Washbourn. Details of the plan are set out in the Policy Report, under legacy matters in the remuneration  

policy table.

8  Share prices. The market price of Beazley ordinary shares at 31 December 2013 was 271.9p and the range during the year was 179.2p to 272.2p.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

97

Directors’ remuneration report continued

Annual general meeting
At the forthcoming annual general meeting to be held on 26 March 2014 a binding resolution will be proposed to approve the 
directors’ remuneration policy and an advisory resolution to approve this annual remuneration report.

I am keen to encourage an on going dialogue with shareholders. Accordingly, please feel free to contact me, if you would like to 
discuss any matter arising from this report or on remuneration issues generally, either by writing to me at the company’s head 
office or by email through Sian Coope at sian.coope@beazley.ie

By order of the board

Padraic O’Connor
Chairman of the remuneration committee

5 February 2014

98 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Statement of directors’ responsibilities in respect  
of the annual report and the financial statements

The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the group and parent company financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare group and parent company financial statements for each financial year. Under that 
law they are required to prepare the group financial statements in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law 
and have elected to prepare the parent company financial statements on the same basis. 

Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair 
view of the state of affairs of the group and parent company and of their profit or loss for that period. In preparing each of the 
group and parent company financial statements, the directors are required to: 
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and
•  prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group and the parent 

company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the parent 
company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent company and 
enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991. They have general 
responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to prevent and detect 
fraud and other irregularities.

Under applicable law and regulations, the directors are also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report , Directors’ Report, 
Directors’ Remuneration Report and Corporate Governance Statement that complies with that law and those regulations. 

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the 
company’s website. Legislation in the UK and Jersey governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may 
differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

D Holt
Chairman 

M L Bride
Finance director 

5 February 2014

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

99

 
Independent auditor’s report  
to the members of Beazley plc 
Opinions and conclusions arising from our audit

Our opinion on the financial statements is unmodified
We have audited the financial statements of Beazley plc (‘Beazley’) for the year ended 31 December 2013 which comprise  
the consolidated statement of profit or loss, the consolidated and parent company statements of comprehensive income, the 
consolidated and parent company statements of financial position, the consolidated and parent company statements of cash 
flows, the consolidated and parent company statements of changes in equity and the related notes. Our audit was conducted  
in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) (UK and Ireland).

In our opinion: 
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at  

31 December 2013 and of the group’s profit for the year then ended; 

• the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards  

as adopted by the European Union; and

•  the parent company financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991. 

Our assessment of risks of material misstatement
The risks of material misstatement detailed in this section of this report are those risks that we have deemed, in our professional 
judgment, to have had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in our audit; and directing the 
efforts of the engagement team. Our audit procedures relating to these risks were designed in the context of our audit of the 
financial statements as a whole. Our opinion on the financial statements is not modified with respect to any of these risks, and  
we do not express an opinion on these individual risks.

In arriving at our audit opinion above on the financial statements the risks of material misstatement that had the greatest effect 
on our audit were as follows:

Valuation of insurance liabilities ($4,577.3m gross, $3,399.1m net)
Refer to pages 68 to 69 (audit committee report), pages 111 and 113 (accounting policy) and pages 150 to 159  
(financial disclosures).

The risk:
• 87% of the group’s liabilities relate to insurance liabilities. The valuation of insurance liabilities remains the most significant 

inherent risk in our audit. The most critical estimate included in insurance liabilities is the estimate for insurance losses incurred 
but not reported, for which the gross estimate is $2,597.5m and the net estimate is $1,872.8m as at 31 December 2013. The 
level of subjectivity in the estimated impact of uncertain or unknown future events; the diversity of risks written by Beazley, and 
therefore the granular level of reserving that occurs at class of business level; the nature of the specialist classes of business 
that Beazley underwrites; and particular uncertainty as regards the exposure to extreme losses in the catastrophe book and 
reserving for new products all serve to increase the level of judgement required and subjectivity inherent in the estimation of 
insurance liabilities. 

Our response:
In this area, our audit procedures included, among others:
• evaluation and testing of key controls around the actuarial reserving process and the data used to determine the quantum of 

both gross and net insurance liabilities. This included considerations of matters raised in reserving and underwriting committee 
meetings;

• use of our own actuarial specialists to support us in our evaluation of insurance liabilities and in particular the estimate for 

insurance losses incurred but not reported, and our conclusions over whether the amount calculated by the group lies within  
an acceptable range; 

• re-projection on a gross and net basis (based on quarter 3 data then rolled forward for quarter 4) using our own models for 

selected significant classes of business, including marine, property and specialty. We also considered the consistency of the 
basis for the margin applied to the actuarial estimate year-on-year; 

• discussion and consideration of the reserving assumptions and methodology applied for prudence and consistency, and 

benchmarking to identify any outliers against our experience of similar accounts in the market place. Any outliers were then 
followed up through discussions with the group; and 

• consideration of the quality of historic reserving exercises by tracking the outcome of prior years’ liabilities provisions by 

reference to subsequent outturn. 

100 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Existence and valuation of investments (financial assets at fair value ($4,043.6m))
Refer to page 69 (audit committee report), pages 115 to 116 (accounting policy) and pages 143 to 146 (financial disclosures).

The risk:
• The group holds and manages a significant investment portfolio to meet its obligations under insurance contracts and for 

shareholder investment purposes. The size of the portfolio; the exposure to hedge funds; and the strategy employed to increase 
the allocation of assets with a higher credit risk to improve investment return all contribute to making the existence and 
valuation of investments a key areas of focus within our audit. The use and oversight of outsourced service providers remains  
a key element of the group’s approach to investment management.

Our response:
In this area, our audit procedures included, among others:
• assessment of the group’s controls for monitoring performance of investments and the data integrity of the investment records; 
• assessment of the identification and subsequent resolution of differences in custodian reconciliations; 
• receipt of external confirmations from custodians of the listed investment portfolio;
• performance of independent pricing and credit rating checks; 
• inspection of the hedge fund managers’ valuation reports and consideration of the historical accuracy of these pricing 

estimates by reference to realized amounts. We discussed any potential valuation issues with management; and

• assessment of the allocation of assets into the fair value hierarchy in note 16, placing specific emphasis on the hedge funds 

and higher credit risk assets where a greater degree of judgment is required in this allocation. Note 16 provides a description  
of how the Group values its investments, through application of the fair value hierarchy, as required by accounting standards.

Valuation of other assets (reinsurance assets ($1,178.2m), insurance receivables ($617.7m), intangible assets ($91.6m) 
and premium estimates)
Refer to page 69 (audit committee report), pages 110 to 119 (accounting policy) and pages 139 to 166 (financial disclosures).

The risk:
• The risks in these areas include the valuation of reinsurance assets and insurance receivables, being the recoverability of 

insurance and reinsurance debtors (notes 18, 19 and 24), the valuation of Intangible assets (note 12) and the appropriateness 
of premium estimates. All of these balances require judgement to be applied by the group to the valuation and, in terms of 
processing, require manual adjustments to be made, which we consider on a substantive basis. 

Our response:
As well as the procedures conducted over the insurance liabilities on a net basis, our specific audit procedures to address the 
risks set out above included, among others:

Reinsurance assets and insurance receivables
• evaluation and testing of key controls over the processes designed to record and monitor insurance and reinsurance debtors;
• inspection of management’s aged analysis for recoveries as at 31 December 2013; 
• understanding the terms of the reinsurance programmes in place and conducting relevant substantive procedures and 

analytical reviews to assess the reasonableness of the reinsurance assets relative to gross provisions;

• benchmarking with other market participants where possible (e.g. to consider the bad debt provision percentages applied  

to counterparties) and against past experience; and

• inspection of the manual adjustments substantively, checking back to supporting documentation.

Intangible assets
• challenge of cash flow models employed by the group in the context of our wider understanding of the business and its strategy; 

and 

• critical assessment of the discount rates, assumed growth factors and terminal growth rates applied in the calculation of all 

impairment calculations.

Premium estimates
• evaluation of controls around premium estimates across the different lines of business;
• involvement of our actuarial specialists in assessing these amounts where the nature or calculation of the amounts is complex 

and/or judgmental;

• critical assessment of the approximations involved in recording business written by binders to ensure the methodology 

remained appropriate in the context of the timing of business written throughout the year; and
• inspection of the manual adjustments substantively, checking back to supporting documentation.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

101

Independent auditor’s report  
to the members of Beazley plc continued

Our application of materiality and an overview of the scope of our audit
Materiality is a term used to describe the acceptable level of precision in financial statements. Auditing standards describe a 
misstatement or an omission as ‘material’ if it could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken 
on the basis of the financial statements. We identify a monetary amount as ‘materiality for the financial statements as a whole’ 
based on this criteria and apply the concept of materiality in planning and performing the audit, and in evaluating the effect of 
identified misstatements on the audit and of uncorrected misstatements, if any, on the financial statements and in forming our 
opinion on them. 

The materiality for the group financial statements as a whole was set at $20m. This has been calculated with reference to a 
benchmark of group gross written premiums (of which it represents 1%) which we have determined, in our professional judgment, 
to be one of the principal considerations for members of the company in assessing the financial performance of the group. In 
assessing for balances other than the insurance and reinsurance technical balances we set materiality more conservatively at 
$10m.

We agreed with the audit and risk committee to report to it all corrected and uncorrected misstatements we identified through  
our audit with an individual value in excess of $1m ($0.5m for non-technical) in addition to other audit misstatements below that 
threshold that we believe warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.

Audit work to support this opinion is directed by the engagement partner, who signs this report on behalf of the firm, and in the 
light of the extent of the group’s activities in London, is undertaken primarily by an audit team in London. The audit team in London 
is led by an audit partner who, together with the engagement partner, attends the audit and risk committee meetings. In addition, 
we engaged a KPMG audit team in the US, where Beazley Insurance Company Inc. writes insurance business totaling 
approximately 8% of gross written premium, to perform specified procedures over certain key balances that we judged to be 
significant to the group financial statements. For purposes of the 2013 year end, we did not deem the operations in other 
overseas territories to be significant enough to require auditing for group reporting purposes. 

Our opinion on other matters prescribed under the terms of our engagement is unmodified
In addition to our audit of the financial statements, the directors have engaged us to audit the information in the directors’ 
remuneration report that is described as having been audited, which they have decided to prepare as if the company were 
required to comply with the requirements of Schedule 8 to The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and 
Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008 No. 410) made under the UK Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion the directors’ remuneration report which we were engaged to audit has been properly prepared in accordance  
with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, as if those 
requirements were to apply to the company.

We have nothing to report in respect of matters on which we are required to report by exception 
ISAs (UK and Ireland) require that we report to you if, based on the knowledge we acquired during our audit, we have identified 
other information in the annual report that contains a material inconsistency with either that knowledge or the financial 
statements, a material misstatement of fact, or that is otherwise misleading.

In particular, we are required to report to you if: 
• we have identified material inconsistencies between the knowledge we acquired during our audit and the directors’ statement 
that they consider that the annual report and financial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and 
provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the group’s performance, business model and strategy; or
• the statement of corporate governance does not appropriately address matters communicated by us to the audit and risk 

committee.

Under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
•  adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company; or
• returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 
•  the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 
•  we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. 

The Listing Rules require us to review: 
•  the directors’ statement, set out on page 58, in relation to going concern; and
•  the part of the corporate governance statement on page 65 relating to the parent company’s compliance with the nine 

provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified for our review.

We have nothing to report in respect of the above responsibilities.

102 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Responsibilities of our report, responsibilities and restriction on use
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 99, the directors are responsible for the 
preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and 
express an opinion on the group and parent company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International 
Standards on Auditing (ISAs) (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical 
Standards for Auditors. 

An audit undertaken in accordance with ISAs (UK and Ireland) involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in 
the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, 
whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s 
circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting 
estimates made by the directors; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. 

In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the annual report to identify material inconsistencies with  
the audited financial statements and to identify any information that is apparently materially incorrect based on, or materially 
inconsistent with, the knowledge acquired by us in the course of performing the audit. If we become aware of any apparent 
material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Whilst the audit process is designed to provide reasonable assurance of identifying material misstatements or omissions it is not 
guaranteed to do so. Rather the auditor plans the audit to determine the extent of testing needed to reduce to an appropriately low 
level the probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected misstatements does not exceed materiality for the financial 
statements as a whole. This testing requires us to conduct significant depth of work on a broad range of assets, liabilities, income 
and expense as well as devoting significant time of the most experienced members of the audit team, in particular the engagement 
partner responsible for the audit, to subjective areas of the accounting and reporting. 

Our report is made solely to the parent company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Article 113A of the Companies (Jersey) 
Law 1991. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the parent company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept 
or assume responsibility to anyone other than the parent company and the Parent company’s members as a body, for our audit 
work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Hubert Crehan
for and on behalf of 
KPMG 
Chartered Accountants and Recognised Auditors
1 Harbourmaster Place
International Financial Services Centre
Dublin 1
Ireland

5 February 2014

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

103

 
Financial statements

105  Consolidated statement of profit or loss
106   Statement of comprehensive income
107   Statement of changes in equity
108   Statements of financial position 
109   Statements of cash flows
110  Notes to the financial statements
167   Glossary

104

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Consolidated statement of profit or loss

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Gross premiums written
Written premiums ceded to reinsurers
Net premiums written

Change in gross provision for unearned premiums
Reinsurer’s share of change in the provision for unearned premiums
Change in net provision for unearned premiums

Net earned premiums

Net investment income
Other income

Revenue

Insurance claims
Insurance claims recoverable from reinsurers
Net insurance claims

Expenses for the acquisition of insurance contracts
Administrative expenses
Foreign exchange loss/(gain)
Operating expenses

Expenses

Share of loss in associates

Results of operating activities

Finance costs

Profit before income tax

Income tax expense
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders

Earnings per share (cents per share):
Basic
Diluted

Earnings per share (pence per share):
Basic
Diluted

Notes

3

3

3

4

5

3

3

3

3

3

2013
$m
1,970.2
(293.7)
1,676.5

(64.2)
(21.8)
(86.0)

2012
$m
1,895.9
(353.2)
1,542.7

(82.5)
18.3
(64.2)

1,590.5

1,478.5

43.3
36.4
79.7

82.6
24.7
107.3

1,670.2

1,585.8

877.1
(158.0)
719.1

431.5
187.8
3.0
622.3

902.8
(124.4)
778.4

408.5
155.0
(11.0)
552.5

1,341.4

1,330.9

14

(0.3)

(0.5)

328.5

254.4

(15.2)

(3.2)

313.3

251.2

(49.3)
264.0

(36.6)
214.6

52.4
51.2

33.6
32.8

42.4
41.3

26.7
26.0

8

9

10

10

10

10

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

105

Statement of comprehensive income

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Group
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders
Other comprehensive income
Items that will never be reclassified to profit or loss:
Loss on remeasurement of retirement benefit obligations

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Foreign exchange translation differences
Total other comprehensive income
Total comprehensive income recognised

* The restatement is in respect of the changes to IAS 19. For further information see note 1.

Statement of comprehensive income

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Company
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders
Total comprehensive income recognised

2013
$m

2012

 (restated)*

$m

264.0

214.6

(3.1)

(1.8)

3.1
–
264.0

2.3
0.5
215.1

2013
$m

112.7
112.7

2012
$m

43.0
43.0

106 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Statement of changes in equity

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Group
Balance at 1 January 2012

Total comprehensive income recognised
Dividends paid
Issue of shares
Equity settled share based payments
Acquisition of own shares in trust
Reclassification of reserves
Cancellation of treasury shares
Balance at 31 December 2012

Total comprehensive income recognised
Dividends paid
Equity settled share based payments
Acquisition of own shares in trust
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2013

Notes

21

22

22

22

22

22

22

22

Foreign
currency
translation
reserve
$m

Share
premium
$m

Other
reserves
$m

Retained
earnings
(restated)*

$m

Total
$m

1.1

(88.5)

(50.1)

1,160.3

1,065.6

–
–
1.6
–
–
9.3
–
12.0

–
–
–
–
–
12.0

2.3
–
–
–
–
–
–
(86.2)

3.1
–
–
–
–
(83.1)

–
–
(0.2)
12.4
(25.1)
(9.7)
30.1
(42.6)

–
–
19.1
(17.7)
3.4
(37.8)

212.8
(65.1)
–
–
–
0.4
(28.7)
1,279.7

260.9
(129.9)
(2.1)
–
(2.6)
1,406.0

215.1
(65.1)
1.6
12.4
(25.1)
–
–
1,204.5 

264.0
(129.9)
17.0
(17.7)
0.8
1,338.7

Share
capital
$m

42.8

–
–
0.2
–
–
–
(1.4)
41.6

–
–
–
–
–
41.6

*  The restatement is in respect of the changes to IAS 19. For further information see note 1.

Statement of changes in equity

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Company
Balance at 1 January 2012

Total comprehensive income recognised
Dividends paid
Issue of shares
Equity settled share based payments
Acquisition of own shares in trust
Reclassification of reserves
Cancellation of treasury shares
Balance at 31 December 2012

Total comprehensive income recognised
Dividends paid
Equity settled share based payments
Acquisition of own shares in trust
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2013

Notes

21

22

22

22

22

22

22

22

Foreign
currency
translation
reserve
$m

Share
premium
$m

Other
reserves
$m

Retained
earnings
$m

Total
$m

1.1

(35.9)

(59.3)

775.3

724.0

–
–
1.6
–
–
9.3
–
12.0

–
–
–
–
–
12.0

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(35.9)

–
–
–
–
–
(35.9)

–
–
(0.2)
12.4
(25.1)
(9.7)
30.1
(51.8)

–
–
19.1
(17.7)
3.4
(47.0)

43.0
(65.1)
–
–
–
0.4
(28.7)
724.9

112.7
(129.9)
(2.1)
–
(2.6)
703.0

43.0
(65.1)
1.6
12.4
(25.1)
–
–
690.8

112.7
(129.9)
17.0
(17.7)
0.8
673.7

Share
capital
$m

42.8

–
–
0.2
–
–
–
(1.4)
41.6

–
–
–
–
–
41.6

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107

Statements of financial position

as at 31 December 2013

Assets
Intangible assets
Plant and equipment
Investment in subsidiaries
Investment in associates
Deferred acquisition costs
Deferred tax asset
Reinsurance assets
Financial assets at fair value**
Insurance receivables
Current income tax asset
Other receivables
Cash and cash equivalents**
Total assets

Equity
Share capital
Share premium
Foreign currency translation reserve
Other reserves
Retained earnings*
Total equity

Liabilities
Insurance liabilities
Financial liabilities
Retirement benefit liability*
Deferred tax liabilities
Current income tax liability
Other payables
Total liabilities
Total equity and liabilities

2013

2012

Notes

Group
$m

Company
$m

Group

$m (restated)*

Company
$m

12

13

31

14

15

28

19, 24

16

18

20

21

22

24

16, 25

27

28

26

91.6
6.0
–
8.4
206.0
8.7
1,178.2
4,043.6
617.7
–
41.7
382.7
6,584.6

41.6
12.0
(83.1)
(37.8)
1,406.0
1,338.7

4,577.3
274.9
2.4
65.0
18.5
307.8
5,245.9
6,584.6

–
1.1
747.2
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
49.2
1.2
798.7

41.6
12.0
(35.9)
(47.0)
703.0
673.7

–
123.0
–
–
0.2
1.8
125.0
798.7

115.1
7.0
–
10.0
185.0
11.0
1,187.3
4,005.4
578.0
1.2
32.4
316.5
6,448.9

41.6
12.0
(86.2)
(42.6)
1,279.7
1,204.5

4,483.8
315.0
0.7
84.0
–
360.9
5,244.4
6,448.9

–
1.4
747.2
1.4
–
–
–
–
–
–
61.9
1.3
813.2

41.6
12.0
(35.9)
(51.8)
724.9
690.8

–
120.5
–
–
–
1.9
122.4
813.2

*    The restatement is in respect of the changes to IAS 19. For further information see note 1.
**   Deposits to the value of $307.3m (2012: $320.0m) managed centrally by Lloyd’s are now included in financial assets and no longer classified as cash and  

cash equivalents. 

The financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 5 February 2014 and were signed on its behalf by:

D Holt
Chairman 

M L Bride
Finance director 

5 February 2014

108 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Statements of cash flows

for the year ended 31 December 2013

Cash flow from operating activities
Profit before income tax
Adjustments for:
Amortisation of intangibles
Equity settled share based compensation
Net fair value gains on financial assets
Loss in associate
Depreciation of plant and equipment
Impairment of reinsurance assets (written back)/recognised
Impairment loss recognised on intangible assets
Impairment loss recognised on investment in associates
Increase/(decrease) in insurance and other liabilities
(Increase)/decrease in insurance, reinsurance and  
other receivables
Increase in deferred acquisition costs
Financial income
Financial expense
Profit on debt buyback
Income tax paid
Net cash from/(used in) operating activities

Cash flow from investing activities
Purchase of plant and equipment
Expenditure on software development 
Purchase of investments*
Proceeds from sale of investments
Investment in associate
Interest and dividends received
Net cash from/(used in) investing activities

Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares
Acquisition of own shares in trust
Proceeds from issue of debt
Repayment of borrowings
Interest paid
Dividends paid
Net cash (used in)/from financing activities

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year*
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year*

2013

Group
$m

Company
$m

2012

Group 
$m

Company
$m

Notes

313.3

112.7

251.2

43.0

12

22

14

13

6

12

4

8

8

13

12

14

22

25

25

20

14.2
19.1
15.0
0.3
2.4
(3.5)
11.5
1.4
37.1

(36.4)
(21.0)
(68.7)
17.3
(2.1)
(46.4)
253.5

(1.5)
(5.1)
(3,079.5)
3,026.3
(0.1)
68.7
8.8

–
(17.7)
–
(39.5)
(13.5)
(129.9)
(200.6)

61.7
316.5
4.5
382.7

–
19.1
–
–
0.2
–
–
1.4
1.3

12.7
–
–
6.7
–
–
154.1

15.0
12.4
(17.3)
0.5
2.9
2.3
–
–
157.4

(21.5)
(25.3)
(77.0)
16.1
(12.9)
(22.7)
281.1

–
–
–
–
–
–
–

(2.6)
(5.8)
(4,668.1)
4,267.7
(1.6)
77.0
(333.4)

–
(17.7)
–
–
(6.7)
(129.9)
(154.3)

(0.2)
1.3
0.1
1.2

1.6
(25.1)
121.0
(66.7)
(14.3)
(65.1)
(48.6)

(100.9)
419.2
(1.8)
316.5

–
12.4
–
–
0.4
–
–
–
(29.0)

(61.9)
–
–
1.8
–
–
(33.3)

(0.3)
–
–
–
–
–
(0.3)

1.6
(25.1)
121.0
–
–
(65.1)
32.4

(1.2)
2.5
–
1.3

*   Deposits to the value of $307.3m (2012: $320.0m) managed centrally by Lloyd’s are now included in financial assets and no longer classified as cash and  

cash equivalents. 

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Annual report 2013

109

Notes to the financial statements

1 Statement of accounting policies
Beazley plc is a company incorporated in Jersey and domiciled in Ireland. The group financial statements for the year ended  
31 December 2013 comprise the parent company and its subsidiaries and the group’s interest in associates.

Both the financial statements of the parent company, Beazley plc, and the group financial statements have been prepared and 
approved by the directors in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU (‘Adopted IFRSs’). On publishing the parent company 
financial statements together with the group financial statements, the company is taking advantage of the exemption in s408  
of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its individual income statement and related notes that form a part of these approved 
financial statements.

The accounting policies set out below have, unless otherwise stated, been applied consistently to all periods presented in these 
group financial statements.

All new standards and interpretations released by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been considered  
and of these the following new and amended standards have been adopted by the group during the period:
• IFRS 7: Amendment: Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities;
• IFRS 13: Fair value measurement;
• IAS 1: Amendment: Presentation of other items of comprehensive income; and
• IAS 19: Amendment: Defined benefit plans.

IFRS 7 was amended to provide expanded disclosures relating to offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities. In particular, 
the disclosures focus on quantitative information about recognised financial instruments that are offset in the statement of 
financial position, as well as those recognised financial instruments that are subject to master netting or similar arrangements. 

IFRS 13 establishes a single framework for measuring fair value and making disclosures about fair value measurements, when 
such measurements are required or permitted by other IFRSs. In particular, it unifies the definition of fair value as the price  
at which an orderly transaction to sell an asset or to transfer a liability would take place between market participants at the 
measurement date. It also replaces and expands the disclosure requirements about fair value measurements in other IFRSs.  
In accordance with the transitional provisions of IFRS 13, the group has applied the new fair value measurement guidance 
prospectively. Notwithstanding the above, the change had no significant impact on the measurements of the group’s assets  
and liabilities. However, additional disclosures have been made in these financial statements.

As a result of the amendments to IAS 1, the group has modified the presentation of items of other comprehensive income in its 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income, to present separately items that would be reclassified to profit and loss in the 
future from those that would never be and have renamed the income statement to the statement of profit or loss. Comparative 
information has also been re-presented accordingly. The adoption of the amendment to IAS 1 has no impact on the recognised 
assets, liabilities and comprehensive income of the group. 

IAS 19 was amended effective 1 January 2013, the applicable impact being that actuarial gains and losses that have previously 
not been recognised in accordance with the ‘corridor method’ permitted in the old standard must be reflected in financial 
statements for both the current and prior reporting periods. The impact of this change is a restatement of the pension asset,  
in respect of the defined benefit pension scheme, in the statement of financial position with a corresponding restatement in  
the statement of comprehensive income and statement of changes in equity to the value of $7.2m as at 31 December 2012 
($5.4m as at 1 January 2012). The restatement results in the pension asset being disclosed as a pension liability in the statement 
of financial position from 1 January 2012. The impact of the amendment to IAS 19 is the only change to the statement of financial 
position as at 31 December 2011 and the impact is highlighted above. Accordingly, no statement of financial position as at  
31 December 2011 have been prepared and presented.

Under the amended IAS 19, the group also determines the net interest expense/(income) for the period on the net defined benefit 
liability/(asset) by applying the discount rate used to measure the defined benefit obligation at the beginning of the annual period 
to the net defined benefit liability/(asset) at the beginning of the annual period, taking into account any changes in the net defined 
benefit liability/(asset) during the period as a result of contributions and benefit payments. Consequently, the net interest on the 
defined liability/(asset) now comprises:
• interest cost on the defined benefit obligation;
• interest income on plan assets; and
• interest on the effect of the asset ceiling.

Previously, the group determined interest income on plan assets based on their long-term rate of expected return. The impact of 
this change is not large enough to change the numbers reported in the statement of profit or loss for the year ended 31 December 
2012 and therefore no restatement have been disclosed. 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

1 Statement of accounting policies continued
The following is a list of standards that are in issue but are not effective in 2013, but have been endorsed for use in the EU, 
together with the effective date of application to the group:
• IFRS 10: Consolidated financial statements (effective 1 January 2014);
• IFRS 11: Joint arrangements (effective 1 January 2014);
• IFRS 12: Disclosure of interests in other entities (effective 1 January 2014);
• IAS 19: Amendment: Defined benefit plans: Employee Contributions (effective 1 July 2014)
• IAS 27: Amendment: Separate financial statements (effective 1 January 2014);
• IAS 28: Amendment: Investments in associates and joint ventures (effective 1 January 2014);
• IAS 32: Amendment: Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities (effective 1 January 2014);
• IAS 36: Amendment: Recoverable amount disclosures for non-financial assets (effective 1 January 2014); 
• IAS 39: Amendment: Novation of derivatives and continuation of hedge accounting. (effective 1 January 2014); and
• IFRIC 21: Levies.

In addition, improvements to IFRSs (effective 1 January 2014) are in issue but are not effective in 2013, and have not yet  
been endorsed for use in the EU.

The implications of these standards and interpretations are under review.

Basis of presentation
The group financial statements are prepared using the historical cost convention except that financial investments and derivative 
financial instruments are stated at their fair value. All amounts presented are stated in US dollars and millions, unless stated 
otherwise.

The financial statements of Beazley plc have been prepared on a going concern basis. The directors of the company have  
a reasonable expectation that the group and the company have adequate resources to continue in operational existence  
for the foreseeable future.

Use of estimates and judgements
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the 
application of accounting policies and reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Actual results may differ  
from these estimates. 

Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised  
in the period in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods affected.

In particular, information about significant areas of estimation uncertainty and critical judgements in applying accounting policies 
that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are described in this statement  
of accounting policies and specifically in the following notes:
• note 12: Intangible assets (assumptions underlying recoverable amounts);
• note 16: Financial assets and liabilities (valuations based on models and unobservable inputs);
• note 23: Equity compensation plans (assumptions used to calculate fair value of share options granted);
• note 24: Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets (estimates for losses incurred but not reported); and
• note 27: Retirement benefit obligations (actuarial assumptions).

The most critical estimate included within the group’s financial position is the estimate for insurance losses incurred but not 
reported. The total estimate net of reinsurers’ share as at 31 December 2013 is $1,872.8m (2012: $1,833.9m) and is included 
within total insurance liabilities in the statement of financial position.

Consolidation
a) Subsidiary undertakings
Subsidiary undertakings, which are those entities over which the group, directly or indirectly, has the power to exercise control  
over financial and operating policies so as to obtain benefits from their activities, have been consolidated. They are consolidated  
from the date on which control is transferred to the group and cease to be consolidated from the date on which control ends.

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111

Notes to the financial statements continued

1 Statement of accounting policies continued
The group has used the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations arising on the purchase of subsidiaries. 
Under this method, the cost of acquisition is measured as the fair value of assets given, shares issued or liabilities undertaken  
at the date of acquisition directly attributable to the acquisition. The excess of the cost of an acquisition over the net fair value  
of the identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities of the subsidiary acquired is recorded as goodwill. The accounting 
treatment of acquisition expenses per IFRS 3 (2008) has changed; however as the group applies the revised standard 
prospectively to all business combinations from 1 January 2010 there is no impact on accounting for the acquisition of 
subsidiaries made in previous periods.

For all business combinations from 1 January 2010:
(i)   Transaction costs, other than those associated with the issue of debt or equity securities, that the group incurs in connection 

with a business combination, are expensed as incurred.

(ii)   In addition, any consideration transferred does not include amounts related to the settlement of pre-existing relationships.  

Such amounts are recognised in profit or loss.

(iii) Any contingent consideration is measured at fair value at the acquisition date.

Equity financial investments made by the parent company in subsidiary undertakings and associates are stated at cost in its 
separate financial statements and are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying 
value may be impaired. 

Certain group subsidiaries underwrite as corporate members of Lloyd’s on syndicates managed by Beazley Furlonge Limited.  
In view of the several liability of underwriting members at Lloyd’s for the transactions of syndicates in which they participate,  
only attributable shares of transactions, assets and liabilities of those syndicates are included in the group financial statements.  

b) Associates
Associates are those entities in which the group has power to exert significant influence but which it does not control.  
Significant influence is generally presumed if the group has between 20% and 50% of voting rights. 

Investments in associates are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Under this method the investments are 
initially measured at cost and the group’s share of post-acquisition profits or losses is recognised in the statement of profit or loss. 
Therefore the cumulative post-acquisition movements in the associates’ net assets are adjusted against the cost of the 
investment. 

When the group’s share of losses equals or exceeds the carrying amount of the associate, the carrying amount is reduced to nil 
and recognition for the losses is discontinued except to the extent that the group has incurred obligations in respect of the 
associate.

Equity accounting is discontinued when the group no longer has significant influence over the investment.

c) Intercompany balances and transactions
All intercompany transactions, balances and unrealised gains or losses on transactions between group companies are eliminated  
in the group financial statements. Transactions and balances between the group and associates are not eliminated.

Foreign currency translation
a) Functional and presentation currency
Items included in the financial statements of the parent and the subsidiaries are measured using the currency of the primary 
economic environment in which the relevant entity operates (the ‘functional currency’). The group financial statements  
are presented in US dollars, being the functional and presentation currency of the parent and its main trading subsidiaries.

b) Transactions and balances 
Foreign currency transactions are translated into the functional currency using average exchange rates applicable to the period  
in which the transactions take place and where the group considers these to be a reasonable approximation of the transaction 
rate. Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of such transactions and from translation at the period  
end of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the statement of profit or loss. 
Non-monetary items recorded at historical cost in foreign currencies are translated using the exchange rate on the date of the 
initial transaction.

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Governance

Financial statements

1 Statement of accounting policies continued 
c) Group companies
The results and financial position of the group companies that have a functional currency different from the group presentation 
currency are translated into the presentation currency as follows:
• assets and liabilities are translated at the closing rate ruling at the statement of financial position date;
• income and expenses for each statement of profit or loss are translated at average exchange rates for the reporting period 

where this is determined to be a reasonable approximation of the actual transaction rates; and

• all resulting exchange differences are recognised in other comprehensive income as a separate component of equity.

On disposal of foreign operations cumulative exchange differences previously recognised in other comprehensive income are 
recognised in the statement of profit or loss as part of the gain or loss on disposal. 

Insurance contracts
Insurance contracts (including inwards reinsurance contracts) are defined as those containing significant insurance risk. Insurance 
risk is considered significant if, and only if, an insured event could cause Beazley to pay significant additional benefits in any 
scenario, excluding scenarios that lack commercial substance. Such contracts remain insurance contracts until all rights and 
obligations are extinguished or expire. 

Net earned premiums
a) Premiums
Gross premiums written represent premiums on business commencing in the financial year together with adjustments to 
premiums written in previous accounting periods and estimates for premiums from contracts entered into during the course of the 
year. Gross premiums written are stated before deduction of brokerage, taxes, duties levied on premiums and other deductions.

b) Unearned premiums
A provision for unearned premiums (gross of reinsurance) represents that part of the gross premiums written that is estimated  
will be earned in the following financial periods. It is calculated using the daily pro-rata method where the premium is apportioned 
over the period of risk.

Deferred acquisition costs (DAC)
Acquisition costs comprise brokerage, premium levy and staff-related costs of the underwriters acquiring new business and 
renewing existing contracts. The proportion of acquisition costs in respect of unearned premiums is deferred at the reporting  
date and recognised in later periods when the related premiums are earned.

Claims
These include the cost of claims and claims handling expenses paid during the period, together with the movements in provisions 
for outstanding claims, claims incurred but not reported (IBNR) and claims handling provisions. The provision for claims comprises 
amounts set aside for claims advised and IBNR, including claims handling expenses. 

The IBNR amount is based on estimates calculated using widely accepted actuarial techniques which are reviewed quarterly by  
the group actuary and annually by Beazley’s independent syndicate reporting actuary. The techniques generally use projections, 
based on past experience of the development of claims over time, to form a view on the likely ultimate claims to be experienced.  
For more recent underwriting years, regard is given to the variations in the business portfolio accepted and the underlying terms 
and conditions. Thus, the critical assumptions used when estimating provisions are that past experience is a reasonable predictor  
of likely future claims development and that the rating and business portfolio assumptions are a fair reflection of the likely level  
of ultimate claims to be incurred for the more recent years.

Liability adequacy testing
At each reporting date, liability adequacy tests are performed to ensure the adequacy of the claims liabilities net of DAC and 
unearned premium reserves. In performing these tests, current best estimates of future contractual cash flows, claims handling 
and administration expenses as well as investment income from the assets backing such liabilities are used. Any deficiency is 
immediately charged to the statement of profit or loss initially by writing off DAC and subsequently by establishing a provision for 
losses arising from liability adequacy tests (‘unexpired risk provision’).

Ceded reinsurance 
These are contracts entered into by the group with reinsurers under which the group is compensated for losses on contracts 
issued by the group and that meet the definition of an insurance contract. Insurance contracts entered into by the group under 
which the contract holder is another insurer (inwards reinsurance) are included with insurance contracts.

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113

Notes to the financial statements continued

1 Statement of accounting policies continued
Any benefits to which the group is entitled under its reinsurance contracts held are recognised as reinsurance assets. These 
assets consist of balances due from reinsurers and include reinsurers’ share of provisions for claims. These balances are based 
on calculated amounts of outstanding claims and projections for IBNR, net of estimated irrecoverable amounts, having regard to 
the reinsurance programme in place for the class of business, the claims experience for the period and the current security rating 
of the reinsurer involved. Reinsurance liabilities are primarily premiums payable for reinsurance contracts and are recognised as 
an expense when due.

The group assesses its reinsurance assets for impairment. If there is objective evidence of impairment, then the carrying amount  
is reduced to its recoverable amount and the impairment loss is recognised in the statement of profit or loss.

Revenue
Revenue consists of net earned premium, net investment income, profit commissions earned and managing agent’s fees.

Managing agent’s fees are recognised as the services are provided. Profit commissions are recognised as profit is earned. 

Dividends paid
Dividend distribution to the shareholders of the group is recognised in the period in which the dividends are paid, as a first interim 
dividend, second interim dividend or special dividend, and approved by the group’s shareholders at the group’s annual general 
meeting. 

Plant and equipment
All plant and equipment is recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment losses. Depreciation is calculated 
using the straight-line method to allocate the cost of the assets to their residual values over their estimated useful lives as follows:

Fixtures and fittings 
Computer equipment 

Three to ten years
Three years.

These assets’ residual value and useful lives are reviewed at each reporting date and adjusted if appropriate.

The carrying values of plant and equipment are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that 
the carrying value may be impaired. If any such condition exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to 
determine the extent of impairment and the difference is charged to the statement of profit or loss.

Intangible assets
a) Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquisition over the fair value of the group’s share of the fair value of the 
identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities of the acquired subsidiary at the date of acquisition. Goodwill is carried  
at cost less accumulated impairment losses. 

Goodwill has an indefinite life and is annually tested for impairment. Goodwill is allocated to each cash-generating unit (being  
the group’s operating segments) for the purpose of impairment testing. Goodwill is impaired when the net carrying amount of the 
relevant cash-generating unit (CGU) exceeds its recoverable amount, being the higher of its value in use and fair value less costs  
to sell. Value in use is defined as the present value of the future cash flows expected to be derived from the CGU. On transition  
to IFRS at 1 January 2004, any goodwill previously amortised or written off was not reinstated.

In respect of equity accounted associates, the carrying amount of any goodwill is included in the carrying amount of the associate, 
and any impairment is allocated to the carrying amount of the associate as a whole.

b) Syndicate capacity
The syndicate capacity represents the cost of purchasing the group’s participation in the combined syndicates. The capacity is 
capitalised at cost in the statement of financial position. It has an indefinite useful life and is carried at cost less accumulated 
impairment. It is annually tested for impairment by reference to the expected future profit streams to be earned by those  
syndicates in which the group participates, namely 2623, 3622 and 3623, and provision is made for any impairment.

c) Licences
Licences have an indefinite useful life and are initially recorded at fair value. Licences are annually tested for impairment and 
provision is made for any impairment when the recoverable amount, being the higher of its value in use and fair value, is less  
than the carrying value.

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Governance

Financial statements

1 Statement of accounting policies continued
d) IT development costs
Costs that are directly associated with the development of identifiable and unique software products and that are anticipated  
to generate economic benefits exceeding costs beyond one year, are recognised as intangible assets. Costs include external 
consultants’ fees, certain qualifying internal staff costs and other costs incurred to develop software programs. These costs are 
amortised over their estimated useful life (three years) on a straight-line basis subject to impairment. Other non-qualifying costs  
are expensed as incurred. 

e) Renewal rights
Renewal rights comprise future profits relating to insurance contracts acquired and the expected renewal of those contracts.  
The costs directly attributable to acquire the renewal rights are recognised as intangible assets where they can be measured 
reliably and it is probable that they will be recovered by directly related future profits. These costs are subject to impairment  
and are amortised on a straight-line basis, based on the estimated useful life of the assets, which is estimated to be between  
five and ten years. 

Financial instruments
Financial instruments are recognised in the statement of financial position at such time as the group becomes a party to the 
contractual provisions of the financial instrument. Purchases and sales of financial assets are recognised on the trade date,  
which is the date the group commits to purchase or sell the asset. A financial asset is derecognised when the contractual rights to 
receive cash flows from the financial assets expire, or where the financial assets have been transferred, together with substantially 
all the risks and rewards of ownership. Financial liabilities are derecognised if the group’s obligations specified in the contract 
expire, are discharged or cancelled.

a) Financial assets
On acquisition of a financial asset, the group is required to classify the asset into one of the following categories: financial assets  
at fair value through the statement of profit or loss, loans and receivables, assets held to maturity and assets available for sale. 
The group does not make use of the held to maturity and available for sale classifications.

b) Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
Except for derivative financial instruments and other financial assets listed below, all financial assets are designated as fair value 
through the statement of profit or loss upon initial recognition because they are managed and their performance is evaluated  
on a fair value basis. Information about these financial assets is provided internally on a fair value basis to the group’s key 
management. The group’s investment strategy is to invest and evaluate their performance with reference to their fair values. 

c) Loans and receivables
Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active 
market. Loans and receivables are carried at amortised cost less any impairment losses. 

d) Fair value measurement
Fair value is the price at which an orderly transaction to sell an asset or to transfer a liability would take place between market 
participants at the measurement date.

When available, the group measures the fair value of an instrument using quoted prices in an active market for that instrument.  
A market is regarded as active if quoted prices are readily and regularly available and represent actual and regularly occurring 
market transactions on an arm’s length basis.

If a market for a financial instrument is not active, the group establishes fair value using a valuation technique. Valuation 
techniques include using recent orderly transactions between market participants (if available), reference to the current fair  
value of other instruments that are substantially the same, discounted cash flow analyses and option pricing models. The  
chosen valuation technique makes maximum use of market inputs, relies as little as possible on estimates specific to the group, 
incorporates all factors that market participants would consider in setting a price, and is consistent with accepted economic 
methodologies for pricing financial instruments. Inputs to valuation techniques reasonably represent market expectations and 
measures of the risk-return factors inherent in the financial instrument. The group calibrates valuation techniques and tests them 
for validity using prices from observable current market transactions in the same instrument or based on other available 
observable market data.

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115

Notes to the financial statements continued

 1 Statement of accounting policies continued
The best evidence of the fair value of a financial instrument at initial recognition is the transaction price, ie the fair value of the 
consideration given or received, unless the fair value of that instrument is evidenced by comparison with other observable current 
market transactions in the same instrument (ie without modification or repackaging) or based on a valuation technique whose 
variables include only data from observable markets. When transaction price provides the best evidence of fair value at initial 
recognition, the financial instrument is initially measured at the transaction price and any difference between this price and the 
value initially obtained from a valuation model is subsequently recognised in profit or loss depending on the individual facts and 
circumstances of the transaction but not later than when the valuation is supported wholly by observable market data or the 
transaction is closed out.

Assets and long positions are measured at a bid price; liabilities and short positions are measured at an asking price. Where the 
group has positions with offsetting risks, mid-market prices are used to measure the offsetting risk positions and a bid or asking 
price adjustment is applied only to the net open position as appropriate. Fair values reflect the credit risk of the instrument and 
include adjustments to take account of the credit risk of the group entity and counterparty where appropriate. Fair value estimates 
obtained from models are adjusted for any other factors, such as liquidity risk or model uncertainties, to the extent that the group 
believes a third-party market participant would take them into account in pricing a transaction.

Upon initial recognition, attributable transaction costs relating to financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss are 
recognised in the statement of profit or loss when incurred. Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are continually 
measured at fair value, and changes therein are recognised in the statement of profit or loss. Net changes in the fair value of 
financial assets at fair value through profit or loss exclude interest and dividend income, as these items are accounted for 
separately as set out below. 

e) Hedge funds and regulated equity linked funds 
The group invests in a number of hedge funds and regulated equity linked funds for which there are no available quoted market 
prices. The valuation of these hedge funds is based on fair value techniques (as described above). The fair value of our hedge fund 
portfolio is calculated by reference to the underlying net asset values (NAVs) of each of the individual funds. Consideration is also 
given to adjusting such NAV valuations for any restriction applied to distributions, the existence of side pocket provisions, and the 
timing of the latest available valuations.

f) Insurance receivables and payables 
Insurance receivables and payables are recognised when due. These include amounts due to and from agents, brokers and 
insurance contract holders. Insurance receivables are classified as ‘loans and receivables’ as they are non-derivative financial 
assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted on an active market. Insurance receivables are measured  
at amortised cost less any impairment losses. Insurance payables are stated at amortised cost.

g) Other receivables
Other receivables are carried at amortised cost less any impairment losses.

h) Investment income
Investment income consists of dividends, interest, realised and unrealised gains and losses and foreign exchange gains and 
losses on financial assets at fair value through the statement of profit or loss. Dividends on equity securities are recorded as 
revenue on the ex-dividend date. Interest is recognised separately on an amortised cost basis using the effective interest rate 
method for financial assets at fair value through the statement of profit or loss. The realised gains or losses on disposal of an 
investment are the difference between the proceeds and the original cost of the investment. Unrealised investment gains and 
losses represent the difference between the carrying value at the reporting date, and the carrying value at the previous period  
end or purchase value during the period.

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Governance

Financial statements

 1 Statement of accounting policies continued
i) Borrowings
Borrowings are initially recorded at fair value less transaction costs incurred. Subsequently borrowings are stated at amortised  
cost and interest is recognised in the statement of profit or loss over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest 
method.

Finance costs comprise interest, fees paid for the arrangement of debt and letter of credit facilities and commissions charged  
for the utilisation of letters of credit. These costs are recognised in the statement of profit or loss using the effective interest 
method.

In addition, finance costs include gains on the early redemption of the group’s borrowings. These gains are recognised in the 
statement of profit or loss, being the difference between proceeds paid plus related costs and the carrying value of the borrowings 
redeemed. 

j) Other payables
Other payables are stated at amortised cost determined on the effective interest rate method. 

k) Hedge accounting and derivative financial instruments
Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value on the date on which a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently 
remeasured at their fair value. The best evidence of fair value of a derivative at initial recognition is the transaction price. The 
method of recognising the resulting fair value gains or losses depends on whether the derivative is designated as a hedging 
instrument and, if so, the nature of the item being hedged. Fair values are obtained from quoted market prices in active markets, 
recent market transactions, and valuation techniques which include discounted cash flow models. All derivatives are carried  
as assets when fair value is positive and as liabilities when fair value is negative.

The group has not designated any derivatives as fair value hedges, cash flow hedges or net investment hedges.

l) Impairment of financial assets
The group considers evidence of impairment for financial assets measured at amortised cost at both a specific asset and 
collective level. The group assesses at each reporting date whether there is objective evidence that a specific financial asset 
measured at amortised cost is impaired. A financial asset is impaired and impairment losses are incurred only if there is objective 
evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that have occurred after the initial recognition of the assets and that 
event has an impact on the estimated cash flows of the financial asset that can be reliably estimated. Assets that are not 
individually significant are collectively assessed for impairment by grouping together assets with similar risk characteristics.

If there is objective evidence that impairment exists, the amount of the loss is measured as the difference between the asset’s 
carrying amount and the value of the estimated future cash flows discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest 
rate. The amount of the loss is recognised in the statement of profit or loss.

In assessing collective impairment, the group uses historical trends of the probability of default, the timing of recoveries and the 
amount of loss incurred, adjusted for management’s judgement as to whether current economic and credit conditions are such 
that the actual losses are likely to be greater or lesser than those suggested by historical trends.

m) Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash at bank and in hand, deposits held at call with banks and other short-term highly liquid 
investments with maturities of three months or less from the date of acquisition. Cash and cash equivalents are classified as 
loans and receivables and carried at amortised cost less any impairment losses.

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Notes to the financial statements continued

1 Statement of accounting policies continued 
Operating leases 
Leases where a significant portion of the risks and rewards of ownership are retained by the lessor are classified as operating 
leases. Payments made for operating leases are charged to the statement of profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the period  
of the lease.

Employee benefits
a) Pension obligations
The group operates a defined benefit pension plan that is now closed to future service accruals. The scheme is generally funded  
by payments from the group taking account of the recommendations of an independent qualified actuary. All employees now 
participate in a defined contribution pension funded by the group.

A defined benefit plan is a pension plan that defines an amount of pension benefit that an employee will receive on retirement, 
usually dependent on one or more factors like age, years of service and compensation. The pension costs are assessed using the 
projected unit credit method. Under this method the costs of providing pensions are charged to the statement of profit or loss  
so as to spread the regular costs over the service lives of employees in accordance with the advice of the qualified actuary, who 
values the plans annually. The net pension obligation is measured at the present value of the estimated future net cash flows  
and is stated net of plan assets. 

Remeasurements of the net defined benefit liability, which comprise actuarial gains and losses, the return on plan assets 
(excluding interest) and the effect of the asset ceiling (if any, excluding interest), are recognised immediately in other 
comprehensive income.

The group also determines the net interest expense/(income) for the period on the net defined benefit liability/(asset) by applying 
the discount rate used to measure the defined benefit obligation at the beginning of the annual period to the net defined benefit 
liability/(asset) at the beginning of the annual period, taking into account any changes in the net defined benefit liability/(asset) 
during the period as a result of contributions and benefit payments. Consequently, the net interest on the defined liability/(asset) 
now comprises:
• interest cost on the defined benefit obligation;
• interest income on plan assets; and
• interest on the effect of the asset ceiling.

Net interest expense/(income) is recognised in the statement of profit or loss.

Past service costs are recognised immediately in the statement of profit or loss, unless the changes to the pension plan are 
conditional on the employees remaining in service for a specified period of time (the ‘vesting period’). In this case, the past service 
costs are amortised on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. 

For the defined contribution plan, the group pays contributions to a privately administered pension plan. Once the contributions 
have been paid, the group has no further obligations. The group’s contributions are charged to the statement of profit or loss in the 
period to which they relate. 

b) Share-based compensation
The group offers option plans over Beazley plc’s ordinary shares to certain employees, including the SAYE scheme, details of which 
are included in the directors’ remuneration report.

The grant-date fair value of share-based payment awards granted to employees is recognised as an employee expense, with a 
corresponding increase in equity, over the period that the employees become unconditionally entitled to the awards. The amount 
recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect the number of awards for which the related service and non-market performance 
conditions are expected to be met, such that the amount ultimately recognised as an expense is based on the number of awards 
that meet the related service and non-market performance conditions at the vesting date. For share-based payment awards with 
non-vesting conditions, the grant-date fair value of the share-based payment is measured to reflect such conditions and there  
is no true-up for differences between expected and actual outcomes. 

When the options are exercised and new shares are issued, the proceeds received, net of any transaction costs, are credited  
to share capital (nominal value) and retained earnings. When the options are exercised and the shares are granted from the 
employee share trust, the proceeds received, net of any transaction costs, are credited to the employee share trust reserve  
and retained earnings.

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

1 Statement of accounting policies continued
Income taxes
Income tax on the profit or loss for the period comprises current and deferred tax. Income tax is recognised in the statement of 
profit or loss except to the extent that it relates to items recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity, in which 
case it is recognised respectively, in other comprehensive income or directly in equity.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the year using tax rates enacted or substantively enacted  
at the year end reporting date and any adjustments to tax payable in respect of prior periods. 

Deferred tax is provided, using the liability method, on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and 
liabilities and their carrying amounts in the financial statements. The amount of deferred tax provided is based on the expected 
manner of realisation or settlement of the carrying amount of the assets and liabilities, using tax rates enacted or substantively 
enacted at the reporting date.

Deferred tax assets are recognised in the statement of financial position to the extent that it is probable that future taxable  
profit will be available against which the temporary differences can be utilised.

Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing profit after tax available to shareholders by the weighted average number  
of ordinary shares in issue during the period.

For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion  
of all dilutive potential ordinary shares such as share options granted to employees. Share options with performance conditions 
attaching to them have been excluded from the weighted average number of shares to the extent that these conditions have not 
been met at the reporting date.

The shares held in the employee share options plan (ESOP) and treasury shares are excluded from both the calculations,  
until such time as they vest unconditionally with the employees.

Provisions and contingencies
Provisions are recognised when the group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, it is probable 
that an outflow of resources of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation, and a reliable estimate of the obligation 
can be made. Where the group expects a provision to be reimbursed, the reimbursement is recognised as a separate asset but 
only when the reimbursement is virtually certain.

Contingent liabilities are present obligations that are not recognised because it is not probable that an outflow of resources will  
be required to meet the liabilities or because the amount of the obligation cannot be measured with sufficient reliability.

2 Risk management
The group has identified the risks arising from its activities and has established policies and procedures to manage these  
items in accordance with its risk appetite. The group categorises its risks into eight areas: insurance, market, credit, liquidity, 
operational, group, regulatory and legal, and strategic risk. The sections below outline the group’s risk appetite and explain  
how it defines and manages each category of risk. 

The symbol ▪ by a heading indicates that the information in that section has not been audited.

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119

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued 
2.1 Insurance risk 
The group’s insurance business assumes the risk of loss from persons or organisations that are directly exposed to an underlying 
loss. Insurance risk arises from this risk transfer due to inherent uncertainties about the occurrence, amount and timing of 
insurance liabilities. The four key components of insurance risk are underwriting, reinsurance, claims management and reserving. 
Each element is considered below.

a) Underwriting risk
Underwriting risk comprises four elements that apply to all insurance products offered by the group:
• cycle risk – the risk that business is written without full knowledge as to the (in)adequacy of rates, terms and conditions; 
• event risk – the risk that individual risk losses or catastrophes lead to claims that are higher than anticipated in plans  

and pricing;

• pricing risk – the risk that the level of expected loss is understated in the pricing process; and
• expense risk – the risk that the allowance for expenses and inflation in pricing is inadequate.

We manage and model these four elements in the following three categories; attritional claims, large claims and  
catastrophe events.

The group’s underwriting strategy is to seek a diverse and balanced portfolio of risks in order to limit the variability of outcomes. 
This is achieved by accepting a spread of business over time, segmented between different products, geography and size. 

The annual business plans for each underwriting team reflect the group’s underwriting strategy, and set out the classes of 
business, the territories and the industry sectors in which business is to be written. These plans are approved by the board  
and monitored by the monthly underwriting committee.

Our underwriters calculate premiums for risks written based on a range of criteria tailored specifically to each individual risk.  
These factors include but are not limited to the financial exposure, loss history, risk characteristics, limits, deductibles, terms  
and conditions and acquisition expenses. 

The group also recognises that insurance events are, by their nature, random, and the actual number and size of events during  
any one year may vary from those estimated using established statistical techniques. 

To address this, the group sets out the exposure that it is prepared to accept in certain territories to a range of events such as 
natural catastrophes and specific scenarios which may result in large industry losses. This is monitored through regular calculation 
of realistic disaster scenarios (RDS). The aggregate position is monitored at the time of underwriting a risk, and reports are 
regularly produced to highlight the key aggregations to which the group is exposed. 

The group uses a number of modelling tools to monitor its exposures against the agreed risk appetite set and to simulate 
catastrophe losses in order to measure the effectiveness of its reinsurance programmes. Stress and scenario tests are also  
run using these models. The range of scenarios considered includes natural catastrophe, marine, liability, political, terrorism  
and war events.

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Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued
One of the largest types of event exposure relates to natural catastrophe events such as windstorm or earthquake. Where 
possible the group measures geographic accumulations and uses its knowledge of the business, historical loss behaviour and 
commercial catastrophe modelling software to assess the expected range of losses at different return periods. Upon application 
of the reinsurance coverage purchased, the key gross and net exposures are calculated on the basis of extreme events at a range  
of return periods. 

The group’s high-level catastrophe risk appetite is set by the board and the business plans of each team are determined within 
these parameters. The board may adjust these limits over time as conditions change. In 2013 the group operated to a catastrophe 
risk appetite for a probabilistic 1-in-250 year US event of $574m net of reinsurance. The catastrophe risk appetite increased by 
6% in 2013 from $541m in 2012, in line with the group’s five year strategic plan.

Lloyd’s has also defined its own specific set of realistic disaster scenario (RDS) events for which all syndicates with relevant 
exposures must report. Of these the three largest, net of reinsurance, events which impact Beazley in 2012 and 2013 are:

Unaudited

Lloyd’s prescribed natural catastrophe event
San Francisco quake (2013: $78bn)
Gulf of Mexico windstorm (2013: $112bn)
US Northeast windstorm (2013: $78bn)

Unaudited

Lloyd’s prescribed natural catastrophe event
Los Angeles quake (2012: $78bn)
Gulf of Mexico windstorm (2012: $112bn)
US Northeast windstorm (2012: $78bn)

2013

Modelled
 PML (before
reinsurance)
$m
633.5
515.5
478.1

Modelled
 PML (after
reinsurance)
$m
263.2
274.9
291.1

2012

Modelled
 PML (before)
reinsurance)
$m
721.2
475.2
418.4

Modelled
 PML (after)
reinsurance)
$m
273.2
276.3
283.3

The net of reinsurance exposures to the above Lloyd’s RDS events have remained stable during 2013 across the account as  
a whole. In our reinsurance division, additional business written has led to an increase in gross and net exposures. In the property 
division, the exposures net of reinsurance have reduced as the catastrophe reinsurance programme purchased in 2013 was  
one single tower, instead of two towers in 2012, which has reduced the overall net retention. The largest movement in our top  
RDS events is the Los Angeles quake event which has reduced from $273.2m in 2012 to $246.7m in 2013 as a result of a 
reduction in exposure in our property division.

The net exposure of the group to each of these modelled events at a given point in time is a function of assumptions made about 
how, where and the magnitude of the event that occurs, the amount of business written that is exposed to each event and the 
reinsurance arrangements in place.

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121

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued
To manage underwriting exposures, the group has developed limits of authority and business plans which are binding upon all 
staff authorised to underwrite and are specific to underwriters, classes of business and industry. In 2013, the normal maximum 
line that any one underwriter could commit the managed syndicates to was $100m. In most cases, maximum lines for classes  
of business were much lower than this. 

These authority limits are enforced through a comprehensive sign-off process for underwriting transactions including dual sign-off 
for all line underwriters and peer review for all risks exceeding individual underwriters’ authority limits. Exception reports are also 
run regularly to monitor compliance.  

All underwriters also have a right to refuse renewal or change the terms and conditions of insurance contracts upon renewal.  
Rate monitoring details, including limits, deductibles, exposures, terms and conditions and risk characteristics are also captured 
and the results are combined to monitor the rating environment for each class of business.

Binding authority contracts
A proportion of the group’s insurance risks are transacted by third parties under delegated underwriting authorities. Each third 
party is thoroughly vetted by our coverholder approval group before it can bind risks, and is subject to rigorous monitoring to 
maintain underwriting quality and confirm ongoing compliance with contractual guidelines.

Operating divisions
In 2013, the group’s business consisted of six operating divisions. The following table provides a breakdown of gross written 
premiums by division, and also provides a geographical split based on placement of risk.

2013
Life, accident & health 
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Total

2012
Life, accident & health 
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Total

UK
(Lloyd’s)
5%
16%
7%
19%
11%
34%
92%

UK
(Lloyd’s)
5%
16%
6%
20%
10%
35%
92%

US
(non-Lloyd’s)
–
–
–
–
–
8%
8%

US
(non-Lloyd’s)
–
–
–
–
–
8%
8%

Total
5%
16%
7%
19%
11%
42%
100%

Total
5%
16%
6%
20%
10%
43%
100%

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Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued
b) Reinsurance risk 
Reinsurance risk to the group arises where reinsurance contracts put in place to reduce gross insurance risk do not perform  
as anticipated, result in coverage disputes or prove inadequate in terms of the vertical or horizontal limits purchased. Failure  
of a reinsurer to pay a valid claim is considered a credit risk which is detailed separately below.

The group’s reinsurance programmes complement the underwriting team business plans and seek to protect group capital from 
an adverse volume or volatility of claims on both a per risk and per event basis. In some cases the group deems it more economic 
to hold capital than purchase reinsurance. These decisions are regularly reviewed as an integral part of the business planning  
and performance monitoring process.

The reinsurance security committee (RSC) examines and approves all reinsurers to ensure that they possess suitable security.  
The group’s ceded reinsurance team ensures that these guidelines are followed, undertakes the administration of reinsurance 
contracts and monitors and instigates our responses to any erosion of the reinsurance programmes. 

c) Claims management risk 
Claims management risk may arise within the group in the event of inaccurate or incomplete case reserves and claims 
settlements, poor service quality or excessive claims handling costs. These risks may damage the group brand and undermine  
its ability to win and retain business, or incur punitive damages. These risks can occur at any stage of the claims life cycle.  
The group’s claims teams are focused on delivering quality, reliability and speed of service to both internal and external clients. 
Their aim is to adjust and process claims in a fair, efficient and timely manner, in accordance with the policy’s terms and 
conditions, the regulatory environment, and the business’ broader interests. Prompt and accurate case reserves are set  
for all known claims liabilities, including provisions for expenses.

d) Reserving and ultimate reserves risk
Reserving and ultimate reserves risk occurs within the group where established insurance liabilities are insufficient through 
inaccurate forecasting, or where there is inadequate allowance for expenses and reinsurance bad debts in provisions. 

To manage reserving and ultimate reserves risk, our actuarial team uses a range of recognised techniques to project gross 
premiums written, monitor claims development patterns and stress-test ultimate insurance liability balances. An external 
independent actuary also performs an annual review to produce a statement of actuarial opinion for reporting entities within  
the group. 

The objective of the group’s reserving policy is to produce accurate and reliable estimates that are consistent over time and across 
classes of business. The estimates of gross premiums written and claims prepared by the actuarial department are used through  
a formal quarterly peer review process to independently test the integrity of the estimates produced by the underwriting teams  
for each class of business. These meetings are attended by senior management, senior underwriters, and actuarial, claims, and  
finance representatives.

2.2 Market risk  
Market risk arises where the value of assets and liabilities or future cash flows changes as a result of movements in foreign 
exchange rates, interest rates and market prices.

a) Foreign exchange risk
The functional currency of Beazley plc and its main trading entities is the US dollar and the presentation currency in which the  
group reports its consolidated results is the US dollar. The effect of this on foreign exchange risk is that the group is mainly 
exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates for non-dollar denominated transactions and to net asset translation risk on non-dollar 
functional currency entities.

The group operates in four main currencies: US dollars, sterling, Canadian dollars and euros. Transactions in all currencies are 
converted to US dollars on initial recognition with any resulting monetary items being translated to the US dollar spot rate at the 
reporting date. Remaining foreign exchange risk is still actively managed as described below. 

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Annual report 2013

123

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued
In 2013, the group managed its foreign exchange risk by periodically assessing its non-dollar exposures and hedging these to  
a tolerable level while targeting to have net assets that are predominantly denominated in US Dollar. As part of this hedging 
strategy, exchange rate derivatives were used to rebalance currency exposure across the group. Details of all foreign currency 
derivative contracts entered into with external parties are disclosed in note 17. On a forward looking basis an assessment is made 
of expected future exposure development and appropriate currency trades put in place to reduce risk.

The group’s underwriting capital is matched by currency to the principal underlying currencies of its written premiums. This helps 
to mitigate the risk that the group’s capital required to underwrite business is not materially affected by any future movements in 
exchange rates. 

The group also has subsidiaries with functional currencies that are different from the group’s presentation currency. The effect of 
this on foreign exchange risk is that the group is exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates for US dollar denominated transactions 
and net assets arising in those foreign currency subsidiaries. It also gives rise to a currency translation exposure for the group  
to sterling, Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars and Australian dollars on translation to the group’s presentational currency, 
although these exposures are minimal. 

The following table summarises the carrying value of total assets and total liabilities categorised by the group’s main currencies:

31 December 2013
Total assets
Total liabilities
Net assets

31 December 2012
Total assets
Total liabilities
Net assets

UK £
$m
 886.8 
(888.8) 
(2.0)

UK £
$m
801.9
(806.9)
(5.0)

CAD $
$m
 117.3 
(116.3) 
1.0

CAD $
$m
130.1
(133.1)
(3.0)

EUR €
$m
 371.4 
(345.1) 
26.3

EUR € 
$m
376.8
(374.5)
2.3

Subtotal
$m
1,375.5
(1,350.2)
25.3

Subtotal
$m
1,308.8
(1,314.5)
(5.7)

US $
$m
 5,209.1 
(3,895.7) 
1,313.4

US $
$m
 5,140.1 
(3,929.9) 
 1,210.2 

Total
$m
6,584.6
(5,245.9)
1,338.7

Total
$m
6,448.9
(5,244.4)
1,204.5

Sensitivity analysis
Fluctuations in the group’s trading currencies against the US dollar would result in a change to profit after tax and net asset value. 
The table below gives an indication of the impact on profit after tax and net assets of a percentage change in the relative strength 
of the US dollar against the value of sterling, the Canadian dollar and the euro, simultaneously. The analysis is based on current 
information.

Change in exchange rate of sterling, Canadian dollar and euro relative to US dollar
Dollar weakens 30% against other currencies
Dollar weakens 20% against other currencies
Dollar weakens 10% against other currencies
Dollar strengthens 10% against other currencies
Dollar strengthens 20% against other currencies
Dollar strengthens 30% against other currencies

Impact on profit after  
 tax for the year ended

2013
$m
6.4
4.3
2.1
(2.1)
(4.3)
(6.4)

2012
$m
(1.7)
(1.1)
(0.6)
0.6
1.1
1.7

Impact on net assets
2013
$m
12.5
8.3
4.2
(4.2)
(8.3)
(12.5)

2012
$m
(2.6)
(1.7)
(0.9)
0.9
1.7
2.6

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued
b) Interest rate risk
Some of the group’s financial instruments, including certain financial assets at fair value, cash and cash equivalents and 
borrowings, are exposed to movements in market interest rates. 

The group manages interest rate risk by primarily investing in short-duration financial assets and cash and cash equivalents. 
The investment committee monitors the duration of these assets on a regular basis.

The group also entered into interest rate futures contracts to manage the interest rate risk on bond portfolios.

The following table shows the average duration at the reporting date of the financial instruments that are exposed to movements 
in market interest rates. Duration is a commonly used measure of volatility and we believe gives a better indication than maturity 
of the likely sensitivity of our portfolio to changes in interest rates.

Duration
31 December 2013
Fixed and floating rate debt securities
Cash and cash equivalents
Derivative financial instruments
Borrowings
Total

31 December 2012
Fixed and floating rate debt securities
Cash and cash equivalents
Derivative financial instruments
Borrowings
Total

<1 yr
$m
 1,414.1 
 382.7 
2.6 
–
1,799.4

<1 yr
$m
1,803.8
316.5
1.9
–
2,122.2

1-2 yrs
$m
 798.7 
–
–
–
798.7

1-2 yrs
$m
464.7
–
–
–
464.7

2-3 yrs
$m
 603.8 
–
–
(132.1)
471.7

2-3 yrs
$m
542.3
–
–
–
542.3

3-4 yrs
$m
 457.5 
–
–
–
457.5

3-4 yrs
$m
335.7
–
–
(176.5)
159.2

4-5 yrs
$m 
 187.5 
–
–
–
187.5

4-5 yrs
$m 
389.9
–
–
–
389.9

5-10 yrs
$m
 59.9 
–
–
(123.0)
(63.1)

5-10 yrs
$m
49.4
–
–
(120.5)
(71.1)

Total
>10 yrs
$m
$m
 3,522.9 
 1.4 
 382.7 
–
2.6
–
(18.0)
(273.1)
(16.6) 3,635.1

Total
>10 yrs
$m
$m
3,585.8
–
316.5
–
1.9
–
(18.0)
(315.0)
(18.0) 3,589.2

Borrowings include tier 2 subordinated debt that is due in October 2026 with a first call at the group’s option on October 2016.  
If the debt is settled when due in October 2026 the duration of the debt falls within the >10 yrs category. If the debt is called in 
October 2016, the duration of the debt falls within the 2-3 yrs (2012: 3-4 yrs) category. Also included in borrowings is $18m  
of a subordinated debt facility raised in 2004 which is unsecured. The subordinated notes are due in 2034 and have been  
callable at the group’s option since 2009. 

Sensitivity analysis
Changes in interest yields, with all other variables constant, would result in changes in the capital value of debt securities and 
borrowings as well as subsequent interest receipts and payments. This would affect reported profits and net assets as indicated 
in the table below:

Shift in yield (basis points)
150 basis point increase
100 basis point increase
50 basis point increase
50 basis point decrease
100 basis point decrease

Impact on profit after 
income tax for the year

Impact on net assets

2013
$m

(68.3)
(45.4)
(22.9)
22.9
45.4

2012
$m

(72.8)
(48.6)
(24.3)
24.3
48.6

2013
$m

(68.3)
(45.4)
(22.9)
22.9
45.4

2012
$m

(72.8)
(48.6)
(24.3)
24.3
48.6

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Annual report 2013

125

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued
c) Price risk
Financial assets and derivatives that are recognised in the statement of financial position at their fair value are susceptible  
to losses due to adverse changes in prices. This is referred to as price risk.

Financial assets include fixed and floating rate debt securities, hedge funds and regulated equity linked funds depending on  
the group’s appetite for risk. The fixed income securities are well diversified across high quality, liquid securities. The price risk 
associated with these securities is predominantly interest, foreign exchange and credit risk related. The sensitivity to price risk 
that relates to the group’s hedge fund investments and regulated equity linked funds are presented below. The group’s hedge 
funds and regulated equity linked funds are limited to a small and manageable part of the total investment portfolio and the 
investment committee has established comprehensive guidelines, with investment managers setting out maximum investment 
limits, requirements for diversification across industries and limits to concentrations in any one industry or company.

Listed investments that are quoted in an active market, are recognised in the statement of financial position at quoted bid price.  
If the market for the investment is not considered to be active, then the group establishes fair value using valuation techniques 
(refer to note 16). This includes comparison of orderly transactions between market participants, reference to current fair value  
of other investments that are substantially the same, discounted cash flow models and other valuation techniques that are 
commonly used by market participants.

Impact on profit after 
income tax for the year 

2013
$m

2012
$m

Impact on net assets
2013
$m

2012
$m

Change in fair value of hedge fund and regulated equity linked fund portfolios
30% increase in fair value
20% increase in fair value
10% increase in fair value
10% decrease in fair value
20% decrease in fair value
30% decrease in fair value

130.5
87.0
43.5
(43.5)
(87.0)
(130.5)

107.1
71.4
35.7
(35.7)
(71.4)
(107.1)

130.5
87.0
43.5
(43.5)
(87.0)
(130.5)

107.1
71.4
35.7
(35.7)
(71.4)
(107.1)

2.3 Credit risk
Credit risk arises where counterparties fail to meet their financial obligations in full as they fall due. The primary sources of credit 
risk for the group are:
• reinsurers – whereby reinsurers may fail to pay valid claims against a reinsurance contract held by the group;
• brokers and coverholders – whereby counterparties fail to pass on premiums or claims collected or paid on behalf of the group; 
• investments – whereby issuer default results in the group losing all or part of the value of a financial instrument and derivative 

financial instrument; and
• cash and cash equivalents.

The group’s core business is to accept significant insurance risk and the appetite for other risks is low. This protects the group’s 
capital from erosion so that it can meet its insurance liabilities. 

The group limits exposure to a single counterparty or a group of counterparties and analyses the geographical locations of 
exposures when assessing credit risk.

An approval system also exists for all new brokers, and broker performance is carefully monitored. Regular exception reports 
highlight trading with non-approved brokers, and the group’s credit control function frequently assesses the ageing and 
collectability of debtor balances. Any large, aged items are prioritised and where collection is outsourced, incentives are in  
place to support these priorities.

The investments committee has established comprehensive guidelines for the group’s investment managers regarding the type, 
duration and quality of investments acceptable to the group. The performance of investment managers is regularly reviewed  
to confirm adherence to these guidelines. 

The group has developed processes to formally examine all reinsurers before entering into new business arrangements.  
New reinsurers are approved by the reinsurance security committee (RSC), which also reviews arrangements with all existing 
reinsurers at least annually. Vulnerable or slow-paying reinsurers are examined more frequently. 

126 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued 
To assist in the understanding of credit risks, A.M. Best, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) ratings are used. These ratings 
have been categorised below as used for Lloyd’s reporting:

Tier 1 
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4

The following tables summarise the group’s concentrations of credit risk:

31 December 2013
Financial assets at fair value
– fixed and floating rate debt securities
– hedge funds
– regulated equity linked funds
– derivative financial instruments 
Insurance receivables
Reinsurance assets
Other receivables
Cash and cash equivalents
Total

31 December 2012
Financial assets at fair value
– fixed and floating rate debt securities
– hedge funds
– derivative financial instruments
Insurance receivables
Reinsurance assets
Other receivables
Cash and cash equivalents
Total

Tier 1
$m

3,303.2
–
 – 
–
–
1,178.2
41.7
 382.7 
4,905.8

Tier 1
$m

3,330.4
–
–
–
1,173.7
32.4
316.5
4,853.0

Tier 2
$m

219.7
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
219.7

Tier 2
$m

255.4
–
–
–
–
–
–
255.4

A.M. Best
Moody’s
S&P
A++ to A-
AAA to A-
Aaa to A3
B++ to B- Baa1 to Ba3 BBB+ to BB-
B+ to CCC
C++ to C-
B1 to Caa
R, (U,S) 3
D, E, F, S

Ca to C  

Tier 3
$m

Tier 4
$m

Unrated
$m

Total
$m

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
435.8
80.5 
4.4
617.7
–
–
–
1,138.4

3,522.9
435.8
 80.5 
4.4
617.7
1,178.2
41.7
 382.7 
6,263.9

Tier 3
$m

Tier 4
$m

Unrated
$m

Total
$m

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
417.7
1.9
578.0
13.6
–
–
1,011.2

3,585.8
417.7
1.9
578.0
1,187.3
32.4
316.5
6,119.6

The largest counterparty exposure within tier 1 is $471.1m of US Treasuries (2012: $593.3m).

Financial investments falling within the unrated category comprise hedge funds and regulated equity linked funds for which there 
is no readily available market data to allow classification within the respective tiers. Additionally, insurance receivables are 
classified as unrated, in accordance with Lloyd’s guidelines. 

Insurance receivables and other receivables balances held by the group have not been impaired, based on all evidence available, 
and no impairment provision has been recognised in respect of these assets. Insurance receivables in respect of coverholder 
business are credit controlled by third-party managers. We monitor third party coverholders’ performance and their financial 
processes through the group’s coverholder management team. These assets are individually impaired after considering 
information such as the occurrence of significant changes in the counterparties’ financial position, pattern of historical payment 
information and disputes with counterparties.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

127

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued
An analysis of the overall credit risk exposure indicates that the group has reinsurance assets that are impaired at the reporting 
date. The total impairment in respect of the reinsurance assets at 31 December 2013 was as follows:

Balance at 1 January 2012
Impairment loss recognised
Balance at 31 December 2012
Impairment loss (written back)/recognised
Balance at 31 December 2013

Individual
impairment
$m
6.8
1.3
8.1
(3.6)
4.5

Collective
impairment
$m
8.9
1.0
9.9
0.1
10.0

Total
$m
15.7
2.3
18.0
(3.5)
14.5

The group has insurance receivables and reinsurance assets that are past due at the reporting date. An aged analysis of these  
is presented below:

31 December 2013
Insurance receivables
Reinsurance assets

31 December 2012
Insurance receivables
Reinsurance assets

Up to 30 days
past due
$m
22.7
4.4

30-60 days
past due
$m
7.2
2.1

60-90 days
past due
$m
2.4
2.0

Up to 30 days
past due
$m
16.9
6.0

30-60 days
past due
$m
3.2
1.9

60-90 days
past due
$m
1.6
1.2

Greater than
90 days
past due
$m
7.0
4.2

Greater than
90 days
past due
$m
5.0
7.3

Total
$m
39.3
12.7

Total
$m
26.7
16.4

The total impairment in respect of reinsurance assets past due by more than 30 days at 31 December 2013 was $5.1m  
(2012: $5.7m).

The group believes that the unimpaired amounts that are past due more than 30 days are still collectable in full, based on  
historic payment behaviour and analyses of credit risk.

2.4 Liquidity risk
Liquidity risk arises where cash may not be available to pay obligations when due at a reasonable cost. The group is exposed  
to daily calls on its available cash resources, principally from claims arising from its insurance business. In the majority of the 
cases, these claims are settled from the premiums received.

The group’s approach is to manage its liquidity position so that it can reasonably survive a significant individual or market loss 
event (details of the group’s exposure to realistic disaster scenarios (RDS) are provided on page 121). This means that the group 
maintains sufficient liquid assets, or assets that can be converted into liquid assets at short notice and without any significant 
capital loss, to meet expected cash flow requirements. These liquid funds are regularly monitored using cash flow forecasting  
to ensure that surplus funds are invested to achieve a higher rate of return. The group also makes use of loan facilities and 
borrowings, details of which can be found in note 25. Further information on the group’s capital resources is contained on  
pages 42 to 43. The sources and uses of funds table on page 42 shows the level of surplus capital that the group currently holds.  
This is the surplus over expected working capital and regulatory capital requirements and represents a buffer that could be  
used to meet unforeseen costs or take advantage of new opportunities.

128 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued 
The following is an analysis by business segment of the estimated timing of the net cash flows based on the net claims liabilities* 
balance held at 31 December:

31 December 2013
Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Net insurance liabilities

*  For a breakdown of net claims liabilities refer to note 24.

31 December 2012
Life, accident & health
Marine
Political risks & contingency
Property
Reinsurance
Specialty lines
Net insurance liabilities

Within
1 year
 48.9 
 108.8
 45.4 
 135.2 
 102.7 
 445.3
 886.3

Within
1 year
29.4
111.7
52.6
142.9
135.4
423.0
895.0

1-3 years
 20.9 
 87.2 
 34.5
 87.5 
 75.1
 636.9
942.1

1-3 years
13.4
89.1
41.0
92.6
91.9
610.1
938.1

3-5 years
 1.0 
29.2 
 8.5
18.0
 16.8 
 369.2
 442.7 

Greater than
5 years
 0.0 
 16.6 
 3.5
 10.0
 9.4 
 331.5
 371.0 

Total
 70.8
 241.8 
 91.9 
 250.7
 204.0 
 1,782.9 
 2,642.1 

3-5 years
0.7
30.3
10.1
19.3
20.3
353.0
433.7

Greater than
5 years
–
17.1
4.1
10.7
11.1
316.3
359.3

Total
43.5
248.2
107.8
265.5
258.7
1,702.4
2,626.1

Weighted
 average term 
to settlement
 (years)
0.9
1.8
1.5
1.5
1.6
3.0

Weighted
 average term 
to settlement
 (years)
0.9
1.8
1.5
1.5
1.5
3.0

The following table is an analysis of the net contractual cash flows based on all the liabilities held at 31 December:

31 December 2013
Net insurance liabilities
Borrowings
Other payables

31 December 2012
Net insurance liabilities
Borrowings
Other payables 

Within
1 year
 886.3 
–
307.8

Within
1 year
895.0
–
360.9

1-3 years
 942.1 
132.1
–

1-3 years
938.1
–
–

3-5 years
 442.7 
–
–

3-5 years
433.7
176.5
–

Greater than
5 years
 371.0 
141.0
–

Greater than
5 years
359.3
138.5
–

Total
 2,642.1 
273.1
307.8

Total
2,626.1
315.0
360.9

The group makes additional interest payments for borrowings. Further details are provided in notes 8 and 25.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

129

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued
The next two tables summarise the carrying amount at reporting date of financial instruments analysed by maturity date.

Maturity
31 December 2013
Fixed and floating rate debt securities
Derivative financial instruments
Cash and cash equivalents
Other receivables
Other payables
Borrowings
Total

31 December 2012
Fixed and floating rate debt securities
Derivative financial instruments
Cash and cash equivalents
Other receivables
Other payables
Borrowings
Total

<1 yr
$m
 925.6 
2.6
382.7
41.7
(307.8)
–
 1,044.8 

<1 yr
$m
1,064.4
1.9
316.5
32.4
(360.9)
–
1,054.3

1-2 yrs
$m
 649.9 
–
–
–
–
–
 649.9 

1-2 yrs
$m
606.3
–
–
–
–
–
606.3

2-3 yrs
$m
 722.9 
–
–
–
–
(132.1)
 590.8 

2-3 yrs
$m
636.1
–
–
–
–
–
636.1

3-4 yrs
$m
 536.9 
–
–
–
–
–
 536.9 

3-4 yrs
$m
490.0
–
–
–
–
(176.5)
313.5

4-5 yrs 
$m
 324.3 
–
–
–
–
–
 324.3 

4-5 yrs 
$m
456.9
–
–
–
–
–
456.9

5-10 yrs
$m
 361.9 
–
–
–
–
(123.0)
 238.9 

5-10 yrs
$m
332.1
–
–
–
–
(120.5)
211.6

>10 yrs
$m
 1.4 
–
–
–
–
(18.0)
(16.6) 

>10 yrs
$m
–
–
–
–
–
(18.0)
(18.0)

Total
$m
 3,522.9 
2.6
382.7
41.7
(307.8)
(273.1)
 3,369.0

Total
$m
3,585.8
1.9
316.5
32.4
(360.9)
(315.0)
3,260.7

Borrowings include tier 2 subordinated debt that is due in October 2026 with a first call at the group’s option on October 2016.  
If the debt is settled when due in October 2026 the maturity date of the debt falls within the >10 yrs category. If the debt is called  
in October 2016, the maturity date of the debt falls within the 2-3 yrs (2012: 3-4 yrs) category.

2.5 Operational risk ▪
Operational risk arises from the risk of losses due to inadequate or failed internal processes, people, systems, service providers  
or external events. 

There are a number of business activities for which the group uses the services of a third-party company, such as investment 
management, data entry and credit control. These service providers are selected against rigorous criteria and formal service  
level agreements are in place, and regularly monitored and reviewed. 

The group also recognises that it is necessary for people, systems and infrastructure to be available to support our operations. 
Therefore we have taken significant steps to mitigate the impact of business interruption which could follow a variety of events, 
including the loss of key individuals and facilities. We operate a formal disaster recovery plan which, in the event of an incident, 
allows the group to move critical operations to an alternative location within 24 hours. 

130 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

2 Risk management continued 
The group actively manages operational risks and minimises them where appropriate. This is achieved by implementing and 
communicating guidelines to staff and other third parties. The group also regularly monitors the performance of its controls  
and adherence to these guidelines through the risk management reporting process.

Key components of the group’s operational control environment include:
• ICA modelling of operational risk exposure and scenario testing;
• management review of activities;
• documentation of policies and procedures;
• preventative and detective controls within key processes;
• contingency planning; and
• other systems controls.

Capital management
The group follows a risk-based approach to determine the amount of capital required to support its activities. Recognised 
stochastic modelling techniques are used to measure risk exposures, and capital to support business activities is allocated 
according to risk profile. Stress and scenario analysis is regularly performed and the results are documented and reconciled  
to the board’s risk appetite where necessary. 

The group has several requirements for capital, including: 
• to support underwriting at Lloyd’s through the syndicates in which it participates, being 2623, 3623 and 3622. This is based  

on the group’s own individual capital assessment. This may be provided in the form of either the group’s cash and investments  
or debt facilities; 

• to support underwriting in Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. in the US; and
• to make acquisitions of insurance companies or MGAs whose strategic goals are aligned with our own. 

The capital structure section of the financial review on pages 42 to 43 provides further background to the group’s management  
of capital.

2.6 Group risk ▪
Group risk occurs where business units fail to consider the impact of their activities on other parts of the group, as well as the 
risks arising from these activities. There are two main components of group risk which are explained below.

a) Contagion
Contagion risk is the risk arising from actions of one part of the group which adversely affect any other part of the group.  
As the two largest components of the group, this is of particular relevance for actions in any of the US operations adversely 
affecting the UK operations and vice versa. The group has limited appetite for contagion risk and minimises the impact of this 
occurring by operating with clear lines of communication across the group to ensure all group entities are well informed and 
working to common goals. 

b) Reputation
Reputation risk is the risk of negative publicity as a result of the group’s contractual arrangements, customers, products, services 
and other activities. Key sources of reputation risk include operation of a Lloyd’s franchise, interaction with capital markets since 
the group’s IPO during 2002, and reliance upon the Beazley brand in the US, Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia. The 
group’s preference is to minimise reputation risks but where it is not possible or beneficial to avoid them, we seek to minimise 
their frequency and severity by management through public relations and communication channels.

2.7 Regulatory and legal risk ▪
Regulatory and legal risk is the risk arising from not complying with regulatory and legal requirements. The operations of the group 
are subject to legal and regulatory requirements within the jurisdictions in which it operates and the group’s compliance function  
is responsible for ensuring that these requirements are adhered to.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

131

Notes to the financial statements continued

2 Risk management continued 
2.8 Strategic risk ▪
This is the risk that the group’s strategy is inappropriate or that the group is unable to implement its strategy. Where events 
supersede the group’s strategic plan this is escalated at the earliest opportunity through the group’s monitoring tools and 
governance structure.

Senior management performance
Management stretch is the risk that business growth might result in an insufficient or overly complicated management team 
structure, thereby undermining accountability and control within the group. As the group expands its worldwide business in the  
UK, US, Europe, South America and Asia, management stretch may make the identification, analysis and control of group risks 
more complex.

On a day-to-day basis, the group’s management structure encourages organisational flexibility and adaptability, while ensuring  
that activities are appropriately co-ordinated and controlled. By focusing on the needs of their customers and demonstrating both 
progressive and responsive abilities, staff, management and outsourced service providers are expected to excel in service and 
quality. Individuals and teams are also expected to transact their activities in an open and transparent way. These behavioural 
expectations reaffirm low group risk tolerance by aligning interests to ensure that routine activities, projects and other initiatives  
are implemented to benefit and protect resources of both local business segments and the group as a whole.

3 Segmental analysis
a) Reporting segments
Segment information is presented in respect of reportable segments. These are based on the group’s management and internal 
reporting structures and represent the level at which financial information is reported to the Board, being the chief operating 
decision-maker as defined in IFRS 8.

The operating segments are based upon the different types of insurance risk underwritten by the group, as described below:

Life, accident & health 
This segment underwrites life, health, personal accident, sports and income protection risks.

Marine
This segment underwrites a broad spectrum of marine classes including hull, energy, cargo and specie, piracy, aviation, kidnap & 
ransom and war risks.

Political risks & contingency
This segment underwrites terrorism, political violence, expropriation and credit risks as well as contingency and risks associated 
with contract frustration.

Property
The property segment underwrites commercial, high-value homeowners’ and construction and engineering property insurance  
on a worldwide basis. 

Reinsurance
This division specialises in writing property catastrophe, property per risk, casualty clash, aggregate excess of loss  
and pro-rata business. 

Specialty lines 
This segment underwrites professional liability, management liability and environmental liability, including architects and 
engineers, healthcare, lawyers, technology, media and business services, directors and officers and employment practices risks.

Segment results, assets and liabilities include items directly attributable to a segment as well as those that can be allocated  
on a reasonable basis. The reporting segments do not cross-sell business to each other. There are no individual policyholders  
who comprise greater than 10% of the group’s total gross premiums written.

132 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

3 Segmental analysis continued 
b) Segment information

2013
Segment results
Gross premiums written
Net premiums written

Net earned premiums
Net investment income
Other income 
Revenue

Net insurance claims
Expenses for the acquisition  
of insurance contracts
Administrative expenses
Foreign exchange gain
Expenses

Life,
 accident
 & health
 $m

Political
 risks &
 contingency
$m

Marine
$m

Property
$m

Reinsurance
$m

Specialty
 lines
$m

Total
 $m

 100.3 
96.1

315.9 
282.1

 131.2 
 110.1

371.4 
308.7

 221.6 
171.5

 829.8 
708.0

 1,970.2 
1,676.5

 95.4 
 0.5 
 5.8 
 101.7 

 264.4 
 4.6 
 4.1 
 273.1 

 98.6 
 2.2 
 2.6 
 103.4 

 302.6 
 5.9 
 10.5 
 319.0 

 165.3 
 4.7 
 2.2 
 172.2 

 664.2 
 25.4 
 11.2 
 700.8 

 1,590.5 
 43.3 
 36.4 
 1,670.2 

 70.8 

 88.7 

 4.7 

 122.2 

 29.5 

 403.2 

 719.1 

 27.7 
 21.0 
 0.1 
 119.6 

 71.3 
 29.6 
 0.5 
 190.1 

 26.8 
 17.4 
 0.2 
 49.1 

 99.5 
 31.5 
 0.6 
 253.8 

 34.1 
 17.5 
 0.4 
 81.5 

 172.1 
 70.8 
 1.2 
 647.3 

 431.5 
 187.8 
 3.0 
 1,341.4 

Share of profit/(loss) of associate

– 

 – 

 0.1 

 – 

 – 

(0.4) 

(0.3) 

Segment result
Finance costs
Profit before income tax

Income tax expense

Profit for the year attributable  
to equity shareholders

Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio

Segment assets and liabilities
Segment assets
Segment liabilities
Net assets

Additional information
Investment in associates
Impairment of non-financial assets
Capital expenditure
Amortisation and depreciation
Net cash flow

(17.9) 

 83.0 

 54.4 

 65.2 

 90.7 

 53.1 

74%
51%
125%

34%
38%
72%

5%
45%
50%

40%
44%
84%

18%
31%
49%

61%
36%
97%

 328.5 
(15.2)
313.3

(49.3)

264.0

45%
39%
84%

221.4  1,089.8 
(701.2) 
(187.1) 
388.6
34.3

785.7  1,016.9 
(852.6) 
(614.9) 
164.3
170.8

 6,584.6 
(2,620.3)  (5,245.9) 

384.2  3,086.6 
(269.8) 
114.4

466.3

1,338.7

–
7.5
0.3
0.6
2.7

–
0.1
1.0
1.3
19.9

1.5
0.1
0.5
0.6
8.7

–
0.2
2.1
1.6
6.5

–
0.2
0.8
1.1
3.0

6.9
4.8
1.9
11.4
25.4

8.4
12.9
6.6
16.6
66.2

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

133

 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the financial statements continued

3 Segmental analysis continued

2012
Segment results
Gross premiums written
Net premiums written

Net earned premiums
Net investment income
Other income 
Revenue

Net insurance claims
Expenses for the acquisition  
of insurance contracts
Administrative expenses
Foreign exchange loss
Expenses

Life,
 accident
 & health
 $m

Political
 risks &
 contingency
$m

Marine
$m

Property
$m

Reinsurance
$m

Specialty
 lines
$m

Total
$m

 94.4 
 75.3 

 311.2 
 283.1 

 116.6 
 102.3 

 376.7 
 275.7 

 188.6 
 146.7 

 808.4 
 659.6 

 1,895.9 
 1,542.7 

 80.3 
 1.1 
 1.1 
 82.5 

 279.6 
 8.0 
 3.1 
 290.7 

 98.1 
 4.4 
 1.9 
 104.4 

 266.4 
 11.1 
 10.2 
 287.7 

 139.0 
 8.9 
 0.4 
 148.3 

 615.1 
 49.1 
 8.0 
 672.2 

 1,478.5 
 82.6 
 24.7 
 1,585.8 

 46.4 

 116.9 

 11.7 

 140.4 

 87.3 

 375.7 

 778.4 

 20.8 
 18.6 
(0.6) 
 85.2 

 71.6 
 20.7 
(1.9) 
 207.3 

 25.6 
 14.1 
(0.7) 
 50.7 

 103.0 
 24.4 
(2.1) 
 265.7 

 27.5 
 12.7 
(1.1) 
 126.4 

 160.0 
 64.5 
(4.6) 
 595.6 

 408.5 
 155.0 
(11.0) 
 1,330.9 

Share of loss of associate

–

–

(0.2)

–

–

(0.3)

(0.5)

Segment result
Finance costs
Profit before income tax

Income tax credit

Profit for the year attributable  
to equity shareholders

Claims ratio
Expense ratio
Combined ratio

Segment assets and liabilities
Segment assets
Segment liabilities
Net assets

Additional information
Investment in associates
Capital expenditure
Amortisation and depreciation
Net cash flow

(2.7) 

 83.4 

 53.5 

 22.0 

 21.9 

 76.3 

58%
49%
107%

42%
33%
75%

12%
40%
52%

53%
48%
101%

63%
29%
92%

61%
37%
98%

 254.4 
(3.2)
251.2

(36.6)

214.6

53%
38%
91%

214.7 
(166.0) 
48.7 

1,047.5
(685.9) 
361.6 

767.3  1,002.0
(609.7) 
157.6 

(882.3) 
119.7 

377.8  3,039.6 
(323.8) 
54.0

 6,448.9 
(2,576.7)  (5,244.4) 
462.9  1,204.5 

–
0.4
1.5
(5.7)

0.1
0.9
1.2
(30.0)

1.5
0.5
0.5
(11.6)

0.2
1.3
2.3
(10.2)

0.2
0.5
0.7
(3.7)

8.0
4.8
11.7
(41.5)

10.0
8.4
17.9
(102.7)

134 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

3 Segmental analysis continued
c) Information about geographical areas
The group’s operating segments are also managed geographically by placement of risk. UK earned premium in the analysis below 
represents all risks placed at Lloyd’s and US earned premium represents all risks placed at the group’s US insurance company, 
Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. An analysis of earned premium split geographically by placement of risk and by reportable 
segment is provided in note 2 on page 122.

Net earned premiums
UK (Lloyd’s)
US (Non-Lloyd’s)

Segment assets
UK (Lloyd’s)
US (Non-Lloyd’s)

Segment assets are allocated based on where the assets are located.

Capital expenditure
UK (Lloyd’s)
US (Non-Lloyd’s)

4 Net investment income

Interest and dividends on financial investments at fair value through profit or loss
Interest on cash and cash equivalents
Realised losses on financial investments at fair value through profit or loss
Net unrealised fair value (losses)/gains on financial investments at fair value through profit or loss
Investment income from financial investments 

Fair value gain on derivative financial instruments
Investment income

Investment management expenses

2013
$m

2012
$m

1,556.2
34.3
1,590.5

1,451.1
27.4
1,478.5

2013
$m

2012
$m

6,263.5
321.1
6,584.6

6,123.9
325.0
6,448.9

2013
$m

5.4
1.2
6.6

2013
$m
68.0
0.7
(7.1)
(7.9)
53.7

–
53.7

(10.4)
43.3

2012
$m

8.0
0.4
8.4

2012
$m
72.9
0.6
(10.8)
31.6
94.3

0.1
94.4

(11.8)
82.6

Deposits managed centrally by Lloyd’s are now included in financial assets and no longer classified as cash and cash equivalents. 
In accordance with this reclassification, we have reclassified investment income from interest to realised and unrealised fair value 
gains/(losses).

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

135

Notes to the financial statements continued

5 Other income

Commissions received
Profit commissions
Agency fees
Other income

6 Operating expenses

Operating expenses include:

Amounts receivable by the auditor and associates in respect of:
– the auditing of accounts of the company’s subsidiaries
– taxation compliance services
– all other assurance services not included above
– all other non-audit services not included above

Impairment loss (written back)/recognised on reinsurance assets
Impairment loss recognised on intangible assets (refer to note 12) 
Impairment loss recognised on investment in associates (refer to note 14)

Operating leases 

Other than the fees disclosed above, no other fees were paid to the company’s auditor.

7 Employee benefit expenses

Wages and salaries
Short-term incentive payments
Social security
Share-based remuneration
Pension costs*

Recharged to syndicate 623

2013
$m
23.2
11.0
2.0
0.2
36.4

2012
$m
17.0
5.8
1.9
–
24.7

2013
$m

2012
$m

1.2
0.2
0.3
–
1.7

(3.5)
11.5
1.4

8.8

2013
$m
111.7
57.0
11.8
16.3
8.7
205.5
(20.7)
184.8

1.1
0.2
0.4
0.1
1.8

2.3
–
–

8.5

2012
$m
101.8
45.2
10.5
12.1
8.4
178.0
(16.9)
161.1

*   Pension costs refer to the contributions made under the defined contribution scheme. Further information on the defined benefit pension scheme can be found  

in note 27.

136 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

8 Finance costs

Interest expense
Profit on debt buyback
Other finance costs

2013
$m
16.2
(2.1)
1.1
15.2

2012
$m
16.1
(12.9)
–
3.2

During the period, Beazley bought back a total nominal amount of $39.5m (2012: $77.1m) of debt at market value of $37.4m 
(2012: $64.2m) in the form of fixed/floating rate subordinated notes falling due in 2026. A profit of $2.1m (2012: $12.9m) was 
realised in the difference between the carrying value and the nominal amount of the debt bought back. Refer to note 25 for further 
detail on the subordinated debt.

9 Income tax expense

Current tax expense
Current year
Prior year adjustments

Deferred tax expense
Origination and reversal of temporary differences
Prior year adjustments

Income tax expense

Profit before tax
Tax calculated at Irish rate 
Rates applied

Effects of:
– Tax rates in foreign jurisdictions
– Non-deductible expenses
– Tax relief on share based payments – current and future years
– Under/(over)provided in prior years
– Change in UK tax rates*
– Foreign exchange on tax
– Foreign tax recoverable
– Utilisation of tax losses brought forward
Tax charge for the period

The weighted average applicable tax rate was 15.9% (2012: 16.5%).

2013
$m

60.6
4.3
64.9

(12.1)
(3.5)
(15.6)
49.3

2012
$m

30.7
0.5
31.2

7.2
(1.8)
5.4
36.6

313.3
39.2
12.5%

251.2
31.4
12.5%

 10.5 
 1.7 
(0.3) 
0.8 
(3.8) 
 2.9 
(1.7)
–
49.3

10.2
0.9
0.6
(1.3)
(6.1)
0.7
1.7
(1.5)
36.6

*   The Budget 2013 announced that the UK corporation rate will reduce to 21% at 1 April 2014, with a further reduction to 20% in 2015. The reductions in the UK  
tax rate to 21% (effective from 1 April 2014) and 20% (effective from 1 April 2015) were substantively enacted on 2 July 2013. These reductions will reduce the 
company’s future current tax charge and the deferred tax liability at 31 December 2013 has thus been calculated based on the tax rates substantively enacted  
at the statement of financial position.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

137

Notes to the financial statements continued

10 Earnings per share

Basic (cents)
Diluted (cents)

Basic (pence)
Diluted (pence)

2013
52.4c
51.2c

33.6p
32.8p

2012
42.4c
41.3c

26.7p
26.0p

Basic
Basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing profit after tax of $264.0m (2012: $214.6m) by the weighted average number  
of shares in issue during the year of 503.7m (2012: 506.4m). The shares held in the Employee Share Options Plan (ESOP)  
of 17.3m (2012: 13.3m) have been excluded from the calculation, until such time as they vest unconditionally with the  
employees.

Diluted
Diluted earnings per share are calculated by dividing profit after tax of $264.0m (2012: $214.6m) by the adjusted weighted 
average number of shares of 515.4m (2012: 519.5m). The adjusted weighted average number of shares assumes conversion  
of dilutive potential ordinary shares, being shares from the SAYE, retention and deferred share schemes. The shares held in the 
ESOP of 17.3m (2012: 13.3m) have been excluded from the calculation, until such time as they vest unconditionally with the 
employees.

11 Dividends per share
A second interim dividend of 5.9p per ordinary share (2012: 5.6p) and a special dividend of 16.1p (2012: 8.4p) will be payable  
on 28 March 2014 to shareholders registered at 5.00pm on 28 February 2014 in respect of the six months ended 31 December 
2013. These financial statements do not provide for the second interim dividend and the special dividend as a liability.

Together with the interim dividend of 2.9p (2012: 2.7p) this gives a total dividend for the year of 24.9p (2012: 16.7p).

The aforementioned interim and special dividends will be payable on 28 March 2014 to shareholders registered at 5.00pm  
on 28 February 2014 (save to the extent that shareholders on the register of members on 28 February 2014 are to be paid  
a dividend by a subsidiary of the company (being Beazley DAS Limited) resident for tax purposes in the United Kingdom pursuant 
to elections made or deemed to have been made and such shareholders shall have no right to this second interim dividend).

138 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

12 Intangible assets

Cost
Balance at 1 January 2012
Other additions
Foreign exchange gain
Balance at 31 December 2012

Balance at 1 January 2013
Other additions
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain
Balance at 31 December 2013

Amortisation and impairment
Balance at 1 January 2012
Amortisation for the year
Writedown of goodwill 
Foreign exchange loss
Balance at 31 December 2012

Balance at 1 January 2013
Amortisation for the year
Impairment
Foreign exchange loss
Balance at 31 December 2013

Carrying amount
31 December 2013
31 December 2012

Goodwill
$m

Syndicate
 capacity
$m

Licences
$m

IT
development
costs
$m

Renewal 
rights
$m

72.3
–
1.7
74.0

74.0
–
(2.0)
72.0

–
–
(10.0)
–
(10.0)

(10.0)
–
–
–
(10.0)

10.8
–
0.7
11.5

11.5
–
(0.8)
10.7

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

9.3
–
–
9.3

9.3
–
–
9.3

–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

46.9
5.8
2.8
55.5

55.5
5.1
1.6
62.2

(24.9)
(12.6)
–
(1.6)
(39.1)

(39.1)
(11.8)
–
(1.7)
(52.6)

17.0
–
–
17.0

17.0
–
–
17.0

(0.7)
(2.4)
–
–
(3.1)

(3.1)
(2.4)
(11.5)
–
(17.0)

Total
$m

156.3
5.8
5.2
167.3

167.3
5.1
(1.2)
171.2

(25.6)
(15.0)
(10.0)
(1.6)
(52.2)

(52.2)
(14.2)
(11.5)
(1.7)
(79.6)

62.0
64.0

10.7
11.5

9.3
9.3

9.6
16.4

–
13.9

91.6
115.1

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

139

Notes to the financial statements continued

12 Intangible assets continued
Impairment tests
Goodwill, syndicate capacity and US insurance authorisation licences are deemed to have indefinite life as they are expected  
to have value in use that does not erode or become obsolete over the course of time. Consequently, they are not amortised  
but annually tested for impairment. They are allocated to the group’s cash-generating units (CGUs) as follows:

2013
Goodwill
Capacity
Licences
Total

2012
Goodwill
Capacity
Licences
Total

Life,
accident
 & health
 $m
28.6
0.3
–
28.9

Life,
accident
 & health
 $m
30.6
0.3
–
30.9

Political
 risks &
 contingency
 $m
1.0
0.7
–
1.7

Political
 risks &
 contingency
 $m
1.0
0.7
–
1.7

Marine
$m
2.3
1.6
–
3.9

Marine
$m
2.3
1.7
–
4.0

Property
$m
24.9
2.5
1.9
29.3

Property
$m
24.9
2.7
1.9
29.5

Reinsurance
$m
0.8
0.8
–
1.6

Reinsurance
$m
0.8
0.8
–
1.6

Specialty
lines
$m
4.4
4.8
7.4
16.6

Specialty
lines
$m
4.4
5.3
7.4
17.1

Total 
$m 
62.0
10.7
9.3
82.0

Total 
$m 
64.0
11.5
9.3
84.8

When testing for impairment, the recoverable amount of a CGU is determined based on value in use. Value in use is calculated 
using projected cash flows based on financial budgets approved by management covering a five-year period taking into account 
historic growth rates and expected future market conditions. A pre tax discount rate of 9% (2012: 9%) has been used to discount 
the projected cash flows of each CGU. The same discount rate has been applied to all operating segments as these segments  
all undertake underwriting activities supported by the same capital base. The discount rate of 9% (2012: 9%) reflects the group’s 
expected return on equity and cost of borrowing and has been calculated using independent measures of the risk-free rate of 
return and the group’s risk profile relative to the risk-free and market rates of return and, as such, is considered representative  
of the rate appropriate to the risk specific to the CGU.

The impairment tests have been performed assuming the group’s operating segments are the CGUs to which the intangible assets 
have been allocated. The tests indicate that there is significant headroom in respect of the value in use of all the group’s intangible 
assets and it is not expected that any realistic change in market conditions would give rise to any further impairment.

Impairment losses
During the year under review, there have been indicators that the performance of certain insurance contracts relating to specific 
renewal rights within our life, accident & health and specialty lines divisions is not in line with expectation. As a result, the value  
in use of these renewal rights is estimated to be less than the carrying value and an impairment loss, of $7.5m and $4.0m 
respectively, was recognised in the statement of profit or loss.

140 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

13 Plant and equipment

Cost
Balance at 1 January 2012
Additions
Disposals
Foreign exchange gain
Balance at 31 December 2012

Balance at 1 January 2013
Additions
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain
Balance at 31 December 2013

Accumulated depreciation
Balance at 1 January 2012
Depreciation charge for the year
Disposals
Foreign exchange loss
Balance at 31 December 2012

Balance at 1 January 2013
Depreciation charge for the year
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Balance at 31 December 2013

Carrying amounts
31 December 2013
31 December 2012

Company
Fixtures &
 fittings
$m

Fixtures &
 fittings
$m

Group
Computer
 equipment
$m

2.1
0.3
–
0.1
2.5

2.5
–
(0.2)
2.3

(0.7)
(0.4)
–
–
(1.1)

(1.1)
(0.2)
0.1
(1.2)

1.1
1.4

19.5
2.5
(0.5)
0.7
22.2

22.2
–
–
22.2

(13.0)
(2.5)
0.5
(0.5)
(15.5)

(15.5)
(2.0)
(0.1)
(17.6)

4.6
6.7

7.9
0.1
(0.2)
0.2
8.0

8.0
1.5
0.1
9.6

(7.3)
(0.4)
0.2
(0.2)
(7.7)

(7.7)
(0.4)
(0.1)
(8.2)

1.4
0.3

Total 
$m 

27.4
2.6
(0.7)
0.9
30.2

30.2
1.5
0.1
31.8

(20.3)
(2.9)
0.7
(0.7)
(23.2)

(23.2)
(2.4)
(0.2)
(25.8)

6.0
7.0

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Annual report 2013

141

Notes to the financial statements continued

14 Investment in associates

Group
As at 1 January
Investment in Equinox Global Limited
Impairment of Falcon Management Holdings Limited
Share of loss after tax
As at 31 December

The group’s investment in associates consists of:

2013
$m
10.0
0.1
(1.4)
(0.3)
8.4

2012
$m
8.9
1.6
–
(0.5)
10.0

Country of
incorporation

% interest
 held

Carrying value
$m

2013
Falcon Money Management Holdings Limited (and subsidiaries)
Capson Corp., Inc. (and subsidiary)
Equinox Global Limited (and subsidiary)

Malta
USA
UK

The aggregate financial information for all associates (100%) is as follows:

Assets
Liabilities
Equity
Revenue
Loss after tax

25%
32%
27%

2013
$m
38.0
24.7
13.3
21.7
(0.9)

–
6.9
1.5
8.4

2012
$m
31.6
17.2
14.4
14.9
(2.5)

All of the investments in associates are unlisted and are equity accounted using financial information as at 31 December 2013.

During the year under review, Falcon Money Management Holdings Limited (and subsidiaries) has indicated that due to a loss in 
future revenue, a restructuring of its operations is highly likely. As a result, the fair value of this investment is less than the carrying 
value and an impairment loss of $1.4m was recognised in the statement of profit or loss. The investment does not relate to  
a specific reportable segment and the impairment loss has been allocated to all reportable segments (refer to note 3).

Company
As at 1 January
Impairment of Falcon Management Holdings Limited
Share of loss after tax
As at 31 December

The company’s investment in associates consists of:

2013
Falcon Money Management Holdings Limited (and subsidiaries)

The aggregate financial information for the associate (100%) is as follows:

Assets
Liabilities
Equity
Revenue
Profit after tax

2013
$m
1.4
(1.4)
–
–

2012
$m
1.4

–
1.4

Country of
incorporation

% interest
 held

Carrying value
$m

Malta

25%

–

2013
$m
11.8
9.3
2.5
8.8
–

2012
$m
8.8
6.9
1.9
8.3
–

The investment in the associate is unlisted and is equity accounted using financial information as at 31 December 2013.

142 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

15 Deferred acquisition costs 

Balance at 1 January
Additions
Amortisation charge
Balance at 31 December

16 Financial assets and liabilities 

Financial assets at fair value
Hedge funds
Regulated equity linked funds
Fixed rate debt securities 
Floating rate debt securities
Total financial investments at fair value through statement of profit or loss

Derivative financial instruments
Total financial assets at fair value

The amount expected to mature before and after one year are:
Within one year
After one year

Financial liabilities
Retail bond
Subordinated debt
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Derivative financial instruments
Total financial liabilities

The amount expected to mature before and after one year are:
Within one year
After one year

A breakdown of the group’s investment portfolio is provided on page 38.
A breakdown of derivative financial instruments is disclosed in note 17.

2013
$m
185.0
452.5
(431.5)
206.0

2012
$m
159.7
433.8
(408.5)
185.0

2013
$m

2012
$m

435.8
80.5
2,629.9
893.0
4,039.2

417.7
–
3,077.8
508.0
4,003.5

4.4
4,043.6

1.9
4,005.4

1,446.3
2,597.3
4,043.6

1,484.0
2,521.4
4,005.4

123.0
18.0
132.1
1.8
274.9

1.8
273.1
274.9

120.5
18.0
176.5
–
315.0

–
315.0
315.0

As noted on page 126 consideration is also given when valuing the hedge funds to any restriction applied to distributions, the 
existence of side pocket provisions and the timing of the latest valuations. The adjustment to the underlying net asset value  
of the funds as a result of these considerations was $nil at 31 December 2013 (2012: $nil). 

The retail bond was issued by the company. Refer to note 25 for further details.

The group has given a fixed and floating charge over certain of its investments and other assets to secure obligations to Lloyd’s  
in respect of its corporate member subsidiary. Further details are provided in note 32.

Financial assets now include deposits managed centrally by Lloyd’s, which were previously classified as cash and cash 
equivalents. This classification also applies to comparative information provided.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

143

Notes to the financial statements continued

16 Financial assets and liabilities continued 
Fair value measurement
The table below summarises financial assets carried at fair value using a valuation hierarchy that reflects the significance  
of the inputs used in making the measurements. The fair value hierarchy has the following levels:

Level 1 – Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for identical instruments. An active market is a market in which 
transactions for the instrument occur with sufficient frequency and volume on an ongoing basis such that quoted prices reflect 
prices at which an orderly transaction would take place between market participants at the measurement date. Included within 
level 1 are bonds and treasury bills of government and government agencies which are measured based on quoted prices. 

Level 2 – Valuations based on quoted prices in markets that are not active, or based on pricing models for which significant  
inputs can be corroborated by observable market data (eg. interest rates, exchange rates). Included within level 2 are government 
bonds and treasury bills which are not actively traded, corporate bonds, asset backed securities and mortgage-backed securities.

Level 3 – Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable or for which there is limited market activity against which to measure 
fair value.

The availability of financial data can vary for different financial assets and is affected by a wide variety of factors, including the 
type of financial instrument, whether it is new and not yet established in the marketplace, and other characteristics specific to 
each transaction. To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are unobservable in the market, the determination 
of fair value requires more judgement. Accordingly the degree of judgement exercised by management in determining fair value  
is greatest for instruments classified in level 3. The group uses prices and inputs that are current as of the measurement date  
for valuation of these instruments.

If the inputs used to measure the fair value of an asset or a liability could be categorised in different levels of the fair value 
hierarchy, then the fair value measurement is categorised in its entirety in the same level of the fair value hierarchy as the lowest 
level input that is significant to the entire measurement.

The group has an established control framework and valuation policy with respect to the measurement of fair values. 

For the Group’s Level 2 debt securities our fund administrator obtains the prices used in the valuation from independent pricing 
vendors such as Bloomberg, S&P, Reuters, Markit and IDC. The independent pricing vendors derive an evaluated price from 
observable market inputs. The market inputs include trade data, two-sided markets, institutional bids, comparable trades, dealer 
quotes news media, and other relevant market data. These inputs are verified in their pricing engines and calibrated with the 
pricing models to calculate spread to benchmarks, as well as other pricing assumptions such as Weighted Average life (WM), 
Discount Margins (DM), Default rates, and recovery and prepayments assumptions for mortgage securities. While such valuations 
are sensitive to estimates, it is believed that changing one or more of the assumptions to reasonably possible alternative 
assumptions would not change the fair value significantly.

The group records the unadjusted price provided and validates the price through various tolerance checks such as comparison 
with the investment custodians and the investment managers to assess the reasonableness and accuracy of the price to  
be used to value the security. In the rare case that the price fails the tolerance test, it is escalated and discussed internally.  
We would not override the price on a retrospective basis, but we would work with the administrator and pricing vendor to 
investigate the difference. This generally results in the vendor updating their inputs. We also review the valuation policy on  
a regular basis to ensure it is fit for purpose. No adjustments have been made to the prices obtained from the independent 
administrator. 

For our hedge funds and regulated equity linked funds, the pricing and valuation of each fund is undertaken by independent 
administrators in accordance with each underlying funds valuation policy. For the regulated equity linked funds, the individual  
fund prices are published on a daily or weekly basis via Bloomberg and other market data providers such as Reuters. For the 
hedge funds, the individual fund prices are communicated by the independent administrators to all investors via the monthly 
investor statements. The fair value of the hedge fund and regulated equity linked fund portfolios are calculated by reference  
to the underlying net asset values of each of the individual funds.

Additional information is obtained from fund managers relating to the underlying assets within individual hedge funds and 
regulated equity linked funds. We identified that 70% (2012: 64%) of these underlying assets were level 1 and the remainder  
level 2. This enables us to categorise hedge funds as level 2. 

144 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

16 Financial assets and liabilities continued 
Fair value measurement continued 
Prior to any new hedge fund investment, extensive due diligence is undertaken on each fund to ensure that pricing and valuation 
is undertaken by the independent administrators and that each fund’s valuation policy is appropriate for the financial instruments 
the manager will be employing to execute the investment strategy. 

The following table shows the fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities, including their levels in the fair value hierarchy.

2013
Financial assets measured at fair value
Fixed rate debt securities
Floating rate debt securities
Hedge funds
Regulated equity linked funds
Derivative financial instruments
Total financial assets measured at fair value

Financial liabilities measured at fair value
Derivative financial instruments

Financial liabilities not measured at fair value
Retail bond
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Total financial liabilities not measured at fair value

2012
Financial assets measured at fair value
Fixed rate debt securities
Floating rate debt securities
Hedge funds
Regulated equity linked funds
Derivative financial instruments
Total financial assets measured at fair value

Financial liabilities measured at fair value
Derivative financial instruments

Financial liabilities not measured at fair value
Retail bond
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Total financial liabilities not measured at fair value

Level 1
$m

Level 2
$m

Level 3
$m

Total 
$m

 1,435.0 
 250.6 
 – 
–
4.4
 1,690.0 

 1,194.9 
 642.4 
 435.8
80.5
–
 2,353.6 

1.8

–

–
–
– 

128.9
135.9
 264.8 

 – 
 – 
 – 
–
–
– 

–

–
–
– 

Level 1
$m

Level 2
$m

Level 3
$m

1,720.7
324.6
–
–
1.9
2,047.2

1,357.1
183.4
417.7
–
–
1,958.2

–

–
–
– 

–

127.7
178.7
306.4 

–
–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–
– 

 2,629.9 
 893.0 
 435.8 
80.5
 4.4 
 4,043.6 

1.8

128.9
 135.9 
 264.8 

Total 
$m

3,077.8
508.0
417.7
–
1.9
4,005.4

–

127.7
178.7
306.4 

The table above does not include financial assets and financial liabilities if the carrying amount of these financial assets and 
liabilities approximates fair value at the reporting date. 

There were no transfers in either direction between level 1 and level 2 in 2013 and 2012.

The above qualitative and quantitative disclosure along with the risk management discussions in note 2 enables more accurate 
evaluation of Beazley’s exposure to risks arising from financial instruments.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

145

Notes to the financial statements continued

17 Derivative financial instruments 
In 2013 and 2012 the group entered into over-the-counter and exchange traded derivative contracts. The group had the right  
and the intention to settle each contract on a net basis.

The assets and liabilities of these contracts at 31 December are detailed below:

Derivative financial instrument assets
Foreign exchange forward contracts
Bond future contract

Derivative financial instrument liabilities
Foreign exchange forward contracts

2013

2012

Gross contract 
amount
$m
6.5
64.1
70.6

Fair value 
of assets
$m
–
4.4
4.4

Gross contract 
amount
$m
278.6
–
278.6

Fair value 
of assets
$m
1.9
–
1.9

2013

2012

Gross contract 
amount
$m
170.0
170.0

Fair value 
of liabilities
$m
1.8
1.8

Gross contract 
amount
$m
8.6
8.6

Fair value 
of liabilities
$m
–
–

Foreign exchange forward contracts
The group entered into over-the-counter foreign exchange forward agreements in order to hedge the foreign currency exposure 
resulting from transactions and balances held in currencies that are different to the functional currency of the group.

Bond future contract
The group entered in bond futures trades to manage the investment portfolio duration. The vast majority of the trades were 
executed in order to partially hedge the duration of fixed income securities held at the same time. Occasionally, bond future 
contracts were traded in order to gain interest rate duration exposure to certain areas of the yield curve.

18 Insurance receivables

Insurance receivables

2013
$m
617.7
617.7

2012
$m
578.0
578.0

These are receivable within one year and relate to business transacted with brokers and intermediaries. All insurance receivables 
are classified as loans and receivables and their carrying values approximate fair value at the reporting date.

19 Reinsurance assets

Reinsurers’ share of claims
Impairment provision

Reinsurers’ share of unearned premium reserve

Further analysis of the reinsurance assets is provided in note 24.

2013
$m
992.9
(14.5)
978.4
199.8
1,178.2

2012
$m
984.1
(18.0)
966.1
221.2
1,187.3

146 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

20 Cash and cash equivalents

Group
Cash at bank and in hand
Short-term deposits and highly liquid investments

Company
Cash at bank and in hand

2013
$m
266.6
116.1
382.7

2013
$m
1.2
1.2

2012
$m
247.7
68.8
316.5

2012
$m
1.3
1.3

Deposits to the value of $307.3m (2012: $320.0m) managed centrally by Lloyd’s are now included in financial assets and no 
longer classified as cash and cash equivalents. 

21 Share capital

Ordinary shares of 5p each 
Authorised
Issued and fully paid

Balance at 1 January
Issue of shares
Cancellation of treasury shares
Balance at 31 December

2013

2012

No. of
 shares (m)

700.0
521.0

521.0
–
–
521.0

$m

55.8
41.6

41.6
–
–
41.6

No. of
 shares (m)

700.0
521.0

535.9
2.5
(17.4)
521.0

$m

55.8
41.6

42.8
0.2
(1.4)
41.6

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Annual report 2013

147

Notes to the financial statements continued

22 Other reserves

Group
Balance at 1 January 2012

Issue of shares
Share based payments
Acquisition of own shares held in trust 
Reclassification of reserves*
Cancellation of treasury shares
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2012

Share based payments
Acquisition of own shares held in trust 
Reclassification of reserves*
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2013

Company
Balance at 1 January 2012

Issue of shares
Share based payments
Acquisition of own shares held in trust 
Reclassification of reserves*
Cancellation of treasury shares
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2012

Share based payments
Acquisition of own shares held in trust 
Transfer of shares to employees
Balance at 31 December 2013

Merger
 reserve
$m

Treasury
 shares
$m

Employee
 share options
 reserve 
$m

Employee
 share trust
 reserve
$m

Total
$m

1.7

(30.1)

7.2

(28.9)

(50.1)

–
–
–
(17.1)
–
–
(15.4)

–
–
–
–
(15.4)

–
–
–
–
30.1
–
–

–
–
–
–
–

(0.2)
12.4
–
7.4
–
(3.8)
23.0

19.1
–
(4.3)
(11.3)
26.5

–
–
(25.1)
–
–
3.8
(50.2)

–
(17.7)
4.3
14.7
(48.9)

Merger
 reserve
$m

Treasury
 shares
 reserve
$m

Employee
 share options
 reserve
$m

Employee
 share trust
 reserve
$m

(0.2)
12.4
(25.1)
(9.7)
30.1
–
(42.6)

19.1
(17.7)
–
3.4
(37.8)

Total
$m

(35.4)

(30.1)

0.5

5.7

(59.3)

–
–
–
–
–
–
(35.4)

–
–
–
(35.4)

–
–
–
–
30.1
–
–

–
–
–
–

(0.2)
12.4
–
(9.7)
–
(3.8)
(0.8)

19.1
–
(11.3)
7.0

–
–
(25.1)
–
–
3.8
(15.6)

–
(17.7)
14.7
(18.6)

(0.2)
12.4
(25.1)
(9.7)
30.1
–
(51.8)

19.1
(17.7)
3.4
(47.0)

*   Reclassification of reserves relates to the balance in employee share options reserve previously included in the merger reserve caption with effect from 9 June 2009, 

being the date of the reverse acquisition of Beazley plc. The employee share options reserve also included the IFRS 2 provision for plans that have vested 
subsequent to 9 June 2009 but were not cleared down upon vesting. This adjustment and foreign exchange differences on transfers have also been reflected.

148 Beazley 

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

23 Equity compensation plans
23.1 Employee share trust

Costs debited to employee share trust reserve

2013

2012

Number (m)

$m

Number (m)

$m

Balance at 1 January

20.0

50.2

12.5

28.9

Additions
Transfer of shares to employees
Reclassification of reserves
Balance at 31 December

5.0
(6.3)
–
18.7

17.7
(14.7)
(4.3)
48.9

9.5
(2.0)
–
20.0

25.1
(3.8)
–
50.2

The shares are owned by the employee share trust to satisfy awards under the group’s deferred share plan, retention plan  
and long-term incentive plan. These shares are purchased on the market and carried at cost. 

On the third anniversary of an award the shares under the deferred share plan are transferred from the trust to the employees. 
Under the retention plan, on the third anniversary, and each year after that, 25.0% of the shares awarded are transferred  
to the employees. 

The deferred share plan is recognised in the statement of profit or loss on a straight-line basis over a period of three years,  
while the retention share plan is recognised in the statement of profit or loss on a straight-line basis over a period of six years.

23.2 Employee share option plans
The group has a long-term incentive plan (LTIP), approved share option plan and SAYE plan that entitle employees to purchase 
shares in the group. In accordance with these plans, options are exercisable at the market price of the shares at the date of the 
grant. 

The terms and conditions of the grants are as follows:

Share option plan
MSIP
MSIP
LTIP

LTIP

LTIP

SAYE (UK)

SAYE (US)

Total share options outstanding 

Grant date
04/04/2013
04/04/2013
13/02/2013
30/03/2012
14/02/2011
18/02/2010
13/02/2013
30/03/2012
14/02/2011
21/03/2005
21/03/2006
10/04/2013
11/04/2012
11/04/2011
03/06/2013
15/05/2012

No. of options 
(m)
0.5
0.5
2.1
2.6
2.4
2.6
2.1
2.6
2.4
0.1
0.1
0.4
0.7
0.3
0.1
0.1
19.6

Vesting conditions
Three years’ service + ROE
Five years’ service + ROE
Five years’ service + NAV +
 minimum shareholding requirement

Contractual life 
of options
10 years
10 years
10 years

Three years’ service + NAV +
 minimum shareholding requirement

10 years

Three years’ service + NAV +
TSR comparator
Three years’ service

10 years

N/A

Two years’ service

N/A

Vesting conditions
In summary the vesting conditions are defined as:
• Two years’ service –  An employee has to remain in employment until the second anniversary from the grant date.
• Three years’ service –  An employee has to remain in employment until the third anniversary from the grant date.
• ROE - Return on exchange, based the average marine divisional pre-tax return on equity (ROE) over the performance period.
•  NAV – The NAV growth, after adjusting for the effect of dividends, is greater than the risk-free rate of return plus a premium  

per year.

• TSR comparator – The group’s TSR growth is compared with that of members of the comparator group over a three-year period 

starting with the year in which the award is made.

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Annual report 2013

149

Notes to the financial statements continued

23 Equity compensation plans continued
Further details of equity compensation plans can be found in the directors’ remuneration report on pages 74 to 98. The number 
and weighted average exercise prices of share options are as follows:

Outstanding at 1 January
Forfeited during the year
Exercised during the year
Granted during the year
Outstanding at 31 December
Exercisable at 31 December

2013

2012

Weighted
average
 exercise
 price (pence 
per share)
10.3
27.3
16.6
21.3
9.4
–

Weighted
 average
 exercise
 price (pence
 per share)
14.0
16.1
42.1
15.8
10.3
–

No. of
 options
(m)
17.3
(0.7)
(2.8)
5.8
19.6
0.1

No. of
 options
(m)
14.8
(1.3)
(2.5)
6.3
17.3
0.3

The share option programme allows group employees to acquire shares of the company. The fair value of options granted is 
recognised as an employee expense with a corresponding increase in the employee share options reserve. The fair value of the 
options granted is measured at grant date and spread over the period in which the employees become unconditionally entitled  
to the options. The fair value of the options granted is measured using the Black Scholes model, taking into account the terms and 
conditions upon which the options were granted. The amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect the actual number  
of share options that vest.

The following is a summary of the assumptions used to calculate the fair value:

Share options charge to statement of profit or loss

Weighted average share price (pence per option)
Weighted average exercise price (pence per option)
Average expected life of options
Expected volatility
Expected dividend yield
Average risk-free interest rate

The expected volatility is based on historic volatility over a period of at least two years.

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets

Gross
Claims reported and loss adjustment expenses
Claims incurred but not reported
Gross claims liabilities
Unearned premiums
Total insurance liabilities, gross

Recoverable from reinsurers
Claims reported and loss adjustment expenses
Claims incurred but not reported
Reinsurers’ share of claims liabilities
Unearned premiums
Total reinsurers’ share of insurance liabilities

150 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

2013
$m
19.1

155.3
9.4
4.8yrs
25.0%
4.0%
3.4%

2012
$m
12.4

127.7
10.3
4.9yrs
25.0%
4.0%
3.6%

2013
$m

2012
$m

1,023.0
2,597.5
3,620.5
956.8
4,577.3

253.7
724.7
978.4
199.8
1,178.2

1,058.9
2,533.3
3,592.2
891.6
4,483.8

266.7
699.4
966.1
221.2
1,187.3

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued

Net
Claims reported and loss adjustment expenses
Claims incurred but not reported
Net claims liabilities
Unearned premiums
Total insurance liabilities, net

2013
$m

2012
$m

769.3
1,872.8
2,642.1
757.0
3,399.1

792.2
1,833.9
2,626.1
670.4
3,296.5

The gross claims reported, the loss adjustment liabilities and the liabilities for claims incurred but not reported are net of 
recoveries from salvage and subrogation.

24.1 Movements in insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets
a) Claims and loss adjustment expenses

Claims reported and loss adjustment expenses
Claims incurred but not reported
Balance at 1 January

Gross
$m
 1,058.9 
 2,533.3 
 3,592.2 

2013

Reinsurance
$m

(266.7) 
(699.4) 
(966.1) 

Net
$m
 792.2 
 1,833.9 
 2,626.1 

Gross
$m
1,085.6
2,440.6
3,526.2

2012

Reinsurance
$m
(252.4)
(743.3)
(995.7)

Net
$m
833.2
1,697.3
2,530.5

Claims paid

(860.3) 

 146.3 

(714.0) 

(852.0)

200.8

(651.2)

Increase in claims 
– Arising from current year claims
– Arising from prior year claims
Net exchange differences
Balance at 31 December

 1,160.9

(283.8) 
 11.5 
 3,620.5 

(223.8) 
 65.8 
 (0.6) 
(978.4) 

 937.1 
(218.0) 
 10.9 
 2,642.1 

1,101.9
(199.1)
15.2
3,592.2

Claims reported and loss adjustment expenses
Claims incurred but not reported
Balance at 31 December

 1,023.0 
 2,597.5 
 3,620.5 

(253.7) 
(724.7) 
(978.4) 

 769.3 
 1,872.8 
 2,642.1 

1,058.9
2,533.3
3,592.2

(197.4)
73.1
(46.9)
(966.1)

(266.7)
(699.4)
(966.1)

904.5
(126.0)
(31.7)
2,626.1

792.2
1,833.9
2,626.1

b) Unearned premiums reserve

Balance at 1 January

Increase in the year
Release in the year
Balance at 31 December

Gross
$m
 891.6 

2013

Reinsurance
$m

(221.2) 

Net
$m
 670.4 

Gross
$m
808.4

2012

Reinsurance
$m
(202.2)

Net
$m
606.2

 1,970.2 
(1,905.0) 
 956.8 

(313.5) 
 334.9 
(199.8) 

 1,656.7 
(1,570.1) 
 757.0 

1,895.9
(1,812.7)
891.6

(366.8)
347.8
(221.2)

1,529.1
(1,464.9)
670.4

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

151

Notes to the financial statements continued

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued
24.2 Assumptions, changes in assumptions and sensitivity analysis
a) Process used to decide on assumptions
The peer review reserving process
Beazley uses a quarterly dual track process to set its reserves:
• the actuarial team uses several actuarial and statistical methods to estimate the ultimate premium and claims costs, with the 

most appropriate methods selected depending on the nature of each class of business; and

• the underwriting teams concurrently review the development of the incurred loss ratio over time, work with our claims managers 
to set reserve estimates for identified claims and utilise their detailed understanding of both risks underwritten and the nature  
of the claims to establish an alternative estimate of ultimate claims cost, which is compared to the actuarially established 
figures. 

A formal internal peer review process is then undertaken to determine the reserves held for accounting purposes which, in totality, 
are not lower than the actuarially established figure. The group also commissions an annual independent review to ensure that the 
reserves established are reasonable or within a reasonable range.

The group has a consistent reserving philosophy with initial reserves being set to include risk margins which may be released over 
time as uncertainty reduces.

Actuarial assumptions
Chain-ladder techniques are applied to premiums, paid claims and incurred claims (ie paid claims plus case estimates). The basic 
technique involves the analysis of historical claims development factors and the selection of estimated development factors 
based on historical patterns. The selected development factors are then applied to cumulative claims data for each underwriting 
year that is not yet fully developed to produce an estimated ultimate claims cost for each underwriting year.

Chain-ladder techniques are most appropriate for classes of business that have a relatively stable development pattern.  
Chain-ladder techniques are less suitable in cases in which the insurer does not have a developed claims history for a particular 
class of business or for underwriting years that are still at immature stages of development where there is a higher level of 
assumption volatility.

The Bornhuetter-Ferguson method uses a combination of a benchmark/market-based estimate and an estimate based on claims 
experience. The former is based on a measure of exposure such as premiums; the latter is based on the paid or incurred claims 
observed to date. The two estimates are combined using a formula that gives more weight to the experience-based estimate as 
time passes. This technique has been used in situations where developed claims experience was not available for the projection  
(eg recent underwriting years or new classes of business).

The expected loss ratio method uses a benchmark/market-based estimate applied to the expected premium and is used for 
classes with little or no relevant historical data. 

The choice of selected results for each underwriting year of each class of business depends on an assessment of the technique 
that has been most appropriate to observed historical developments. In certain instances, this has meant that different 
techniques or combinations of techniques have been selected for individual underwriting years or groups of underwriting years 
within the same class of business. As such, there are many assumptions used to estimate general insurance liabilities.

We also review triangulations of the paid/outstanding claim ratios as a way of monitoring any changes in the strength  
of the outstanding claim estimates between underwriting years so that adjustments can be made to mitigate any subsequent 
over/(under)reserving. To date, this analysis indicates no systematic change to the outstanding claim strength across  
underwriting years.

Where significant large losses impact an underwriting year (eg the events of 11 September 2001, the hurricanes in 2004,  
2005, 2008 and 2012, or the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011), the development is usually very different from the attritional 
losses. In these situations, the large loss total is extracted from the remainder of the data and analysed separately by the 
respective claims managers using exposure analysis of the policies in force in the areas affected.

Further assumptions are required to convert gross of reinsurance estimates of ultimate claims cost to a net of reinsurance  
level and to establish reserves for unallocated claims handling expenses and reinsurance bad debt.

152 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

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Financial statements

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued 
b) Major assumptions
The main assumption underlying these techniques is that the group’s past claims development experience (with appropriate 
adjustments for known changes) can be used to project future claims development and hence ultimate claims costs. As such 
these methods extrapolate the development of premiums, paid and incurred losses, average costs per claim and claim numbers 
for each underwriting year based on the observed development of earlier years.

Throughout, judgement is used to assess the extent to which past trends may not apply in the future; for example, to reflect  
changes in external or market factors such as economic conditions, public attitudes to claiming, levels of claims inflation, premium 
rate changes, judicial decisions and legislation, as well as internal factors such as portfolio mix, policy conditions and claims 
handling procedures.

c) Changes in assumptions 
As already discussed, general insurance business requires many different assumptions. The diagram below illustrates the main 
categories of assumptions used for each underwriting year and class combinations.

– Life, accident & health
– Marine
– Political risks & contingency
– Property
– Reinsurance
– Specialty lines

Classes

Underwriting years

s
n
o
i
t
p
m
u
s
s
A

– Premium rate change
– Claims inflation
– Mix of business
– Reporting patterns
– Settlement patterns
– Judicial decisions
– Professional judgement

1993 1994 ... 2012 2013

Given the range of assumptions used, the group’s profit or loss is relatively insensitive to changes to a particular assumption used 
for an underwriting year/class combination. However, the group’s profit or loss is potentially more sensitive to a systematic change 
in assumptions that affect many classes, such as judicial changes or when catastrophes produce more claims than expected.  
The group uses a range of risk mitigation strategies to reduce the volatility including the purchase of reinsurance. In addition,  
the group holds capital to absorb volatility.

d) Sensitivity analysis
The estimation of IBNR reserves for future claim notifications is subject to a greater degree of uncertainty than the estimation  
of the outstanding claims already notified. This is particularly true for the specialty lines business, which will typically display 
greater variations between initial estimates and final outcomes as a result of the greater degree of difficulty in estimating these 
reserves. The estimation of IBNR reserves for other business written is generally subject to less variability as claims are generally 
reported and settled relatively quickly.

As such, our reserving assumptions contain a reasonable margin for prudence given the uncertainties inherent in the insurance 
business underwritten, particularly on the longer tailed specialty lines classes.

Since year end 2004, we have identified a range of possible outcomes for each class and underwriting year combination directly 
from our individual capital assessment (ICA) process. Comparing these with our pricing assumptions and reserving estimates 
gives our management team increased clarity into our perceived reserving strength and the relative uncertainties of the business 
written.

To illustrate the robustness of our reserves, the loss development tables below provide information about historical claims 
development by the six segments – life, accident & health, marine, political risks & contingency, property, reinsurance and 
specialty lines. The tables are by underwriting year which in our view provides the most transparent reserving basis. We have 
supplied tables for both ultimate gross claims and ultimate net claims. 

The top part of the table illustrates how the group’s estimate of the claims ratio for each underwriting year has changed at  
successive year ends. The bottom half of the table reconciles the gross and net claims to the amount appearing in the statement  
of financial position.

While the information in the table provides a historical perspective on the adequacy of the claims liabilities established in previous 
years, users of these financial statements are cautioned against extrapolating past redundancies or deficiencies on current claims 
liabilities. The group believes that the estimate of total claims liabilities as at 31 December 2013 is adequate. However, due to 
inherent uncertainties in the reserving process, it cannot be assured that such balances will ultimately prove to be adequate.

www.beazley.com

Beazley 
Annual report 2013

153

Notes to the financial statements continued

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued

2003 ae
%

Gross ultimate claims
Life, accident & health 
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Marine
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Political risks & contingency
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Property
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months

2004
%

2005
%

2006
%

2007
 %

2008
%

2009
%

2010
%

2011
%

2012
%

2013
%

63.3

56.6
68.0

56.0
52.1
59.5

52.9
52.5
49.0
48.1

57.1

55.9
46.0

55.1
47.9
40.0

50.6
49.6
43.8
42.3

57.3

62.5
42.6

58.8
38.4
33.7

61.4
40.3
32.9
23.8

55.4

55.9
48.3

59.6
51.9
49.8

58.9
62.3
60.3
57.5

53.1
52.2
45.0
43.2
42.4

55.8
52.0
45.3
41.7
41.4

61.1
38.7
35.8
31.1
25.2

54.1
43.0
38.0
36.9
35.8

69.0
65.1
59.1
62.7
62.5
58.9

57.5
67.1
72.6
86.5
71.6
60.8

71.2
66.2
65.1
63.1
61.6
60.5

57.8
60.1
50.6
48.1
49.6
50.3
46.9

57.2
39.0
56.4
52.8
53.7
49.9
47.4

58.5
56.7
54.5
55.3
58.6
66.9
66.9

57.1
42.9
33.0
29.2
29.0
26.6
26.5
25.9

57.7
36.2
33.0
43.1
39.1
38.8
36.0
30.5

58.7
44.8
43.9
51.4
51.5
51.2
50.5
48.3

82.5
80.1
70.6
68.6
66.4
64.5
63.7
63.3
63.3

61.0
38.1
28.6
25.1
18.2
17.8
17.7
12.2
12.2

87.0
83.9
82.4
87.4
86.8
85.1
84.4
83.6
82.4

62.3
65.2
62.3
61.8
60.7
56.2
55.9
55.7
55.6
54.8

67.7
55.6
52.3
37.9
37.0
35.1
26.5
26.3
26.1
26.1

65.4
65.2
65.8
63.9
64.4
63.1
62.9
63.5
63.5
63.3

154 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued

Gross ultimate claims
Reinsurance
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Specialty lines
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Total
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Total ultimate losses 
($m)
Less paid claims ($m)
Less unearned portion  
of ultimate losses ($m)
Gross claims liabilities 
(100% level) ($m)
Less unaligned share 
($m)
Gross claims liabilities, 
group share ($m)

2003 ae
%

2004
%

2005
%

2006
%

2007
 %

2008
%

2009
%

2010
%

2011
%

2012
%

2013
%

61.5

62.9
36.0

76.6
77.5
72.0

60.8
68.2
48.7 152.6
40.7 141.0
40.2 135.3
36.0

73.6

74.2
74.2

75.7
75.8
76.6

74.0
74.0
73.0
73.1

63.3

64.7
58.1

67.3
63.0
61.2

64.8
73.3
69.3
67.3

72.8
72.8
72.0
71.4
71.5

62.6
57.5
53.8
52.2
51.2

60.1
51.1
42.5
39.3
38.9
39.0

72.2
72.2
72.1
72.1
71.8
71.9

68.8
67.6
66.2
67.4
65.6
64.0

59.6
26.5
22.0
20.0
19.2
19.0
17.5

72.9
72.5
72.6
72.4
72.4
72.4
72.5

63.6
59.3
58.2
58.5
59.6
61.4
60.6

52.4
25.1
24.9
23.3
21.4
21.1
21.3
20.8

72.7
72.8
72.7
72.7
71.0
66.0
62.1
58.6

63.0
53.3
50.9
52.6
52.2
49.5
47.5
44.9

87.5 196.0
81.6 187.5
76.5 185.8
74.0 179.0
72.1 175.2
172.7
71.1
171.6
70.0
69.0 171.2
68.6
167.7
68.1

72.1
72.1
69.9
66.5
62.9
56.2
52.5
49.3
47.6

90.5
87.7
84.1
82.5
79.6
75.9
74.0
72.0
70.7

72.8
71.4
67.7
64.6
59.5
58.4
56.5
54.6
52.7
49.7

69.5
69.1
66.5
63.5
61.0
59.3
57.9
57.0
56.2
54.6

2,250.8
(2,162.7)

742.2 1,081.9
(999.0)
(673.2)

751.3 1,099.9 1,212.8 1,079.1 1,369.1 1,199.7 1,228.5 1,418.5 13,433.8
(46.2) (8,415.3)
(845.0)
(593.9)

(859.2)

(522.3)

(623.1)

(220.6)

(870.1)

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(21.2)

(635.3)

(656.5)

88.1

69.0

82.9

157.4

240.7

342.7 456.0

524.1

677.4

986.7

737.0 4,362.0

(16.7)

(13.1)

(15.8)

(29.9)

(45.7)

(61.7)

(82.1)

(93.8)

(117.6)

(153.4)

(111.7)

(741.5)

71.4

55.9

67.1

127.5

195.0

281.0

373.9

430.3

559.8

833.3

625.3 3,620.5

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

155

Notes to the financial statements continued

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued

2003 ae
%

Net ultimate claims
Life, accident & health 
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Marine
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Political risks & contingency
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Property
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months

2004
%

2005
%

2006
%

2007
 %

2008
%

2009
%

2010
%

2011
%

2012
%

2013
%

65.4

57.9
64.7

55.1
54.0
62.5

51.6
52.0
51.8
50.8

56.8

55.4
45.9

56.1
48.1
39.6

52.3
49.3
44.6
42.8

54.8

59.4
40.8

55.0
37.2
31.9

57.3
37.7
30.4
21.5

56.9

58.8
53.4

60.6
58.1
54.7

59.1
66.4
66.8
60.9

51.8
50.3
44.5
44.8
44.0

54.5
48.5
39.8
36.1
35.9

58.8
35.1
33.0
28.4
22.8

53.8
48.8
45.5
43.2
42.6

61.3
57.1
50.9
47.8
47.4
46.9

55.9
74.8
74.8
79.4
68.2
57.9

67.4
67.4
65.1
64.1
63.1
61.7

55.0
56.5
49.5
46.7
47.6
47.8
45.2

55.4
39.4
55.1
53.6
52.0
48.8
46.7

61.2
59.8
59.0
59.5
62.5
62.6
62.6

54.1
42.3
33.0
31.6
31.1
29.3
29.1
28.6

56.2
40.4
37.4
46.9
41.2
39.6
39.7
36.8

61.5
49.6
48.1
52.0
51.1
51.1
50.7
49.1

55.5
49.0
42.8
39.6
39.1
38.0
36.6
36.2
36.2

63.6
46.6
36.0
30.3
24.2
23.1
23.1
15.2
15.2

65.0
62.2
58.6
61.3
61.9
60.2
59.3
59.2
57.8

58.0
53.0
48.7
47.9
46.7
44.3
44.0
43.3
43.2
43.0

64.3
58.1
54.1
40.9
40.6
36.1
26.1
25.3
24.3
24.2

59.7
61.0
60.4
58.7
58.5
57.7
57.5
57.5
57.8
57.3

156 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued

Net ultimate claims
Reinsurance
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Specialty lines
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Total
12 months 
24 months
36 months
48 months
60 months
72 months
84 months
96 months
108 months
120 months
Total ultimate losses 
($m)
Less paid claims ($m)
Less unearned portion  
of ultimate losses ($m)
Net claims liabilities 
(100% level) ($m)
Less unaligned share 
($m)
Net claims liabilities, 
group share ($m)

2003 ae
%

2004
%

2005
%

2006
%

2007
 %

2008
%

2009
%

2010
%

2011
%

2012
%

2013
%

59.2

67.1
43.0

85.8
87.7
82.0

55.6
77.0
52.6 137.9
46.7 132.3
46.2 127.4
41.3

69.7

71.4
71.0

72.8
72.8
72.0

71.4
71.4
70.7
69.7

65.4

64.2
58.0

66.9
63.7
60.8

64.5
70.3
68.0
65.0

70.0
69.9
69.2
66.2
65.9

60.4
57.0
53.5
50.9
49.8

67.1
56.6
47.6
45.6
45.0
45.1

70.2
70.2
70.2
68.8
68.3
68.2

66.3
66.8
64.3
63.3
61.8
60.5

55.3
30.5
25.3
22.9
22.3
22.1
20.4

69.7
68.7
68.8
67.5
67.4
67.4
67.6

63.1
59.3
58.8
57.6
58.2
58.0
57.3

54.3
36.6
34.7
32.5
31.0
31.0
31.3
30.7

68.7
68.6
68.6
68.7
63.9
57.8
54.3
51.1

62.2
54.5
51.9
52.6
50.4
47.3
45.8
43.7

88.4 152.9
85.5 131.6
82.4 127.1
76.3 117.5
73.0 111.3
71.5 110.1
70.8 104.9
69.5 104.4
69.7
99.5
68.2

69.3
69.3
67.6
64.0
59.0
53.9
50.4
48.0
46.1

73.1
68.8
65.1
62.3
59.2
56.4
53.9
52.2
50.5

69.7
68.6
65.8
62.3
57.0
53.7
51.2
48.9
47.6
45.3

65.8
65.3
62.7
59.4
56.5
54.0
52.2
50.9
50.3
49.0

1,348.8
(1,287.4)

557.1 602.5 595.5
(485.0)
(542.7)
(496.4)

897.9
(728.5)

949.0
(732.0)

819.2 1,127.7
(737.2)
(538.1)

971.2
(448.9)

997.0 1,140.0 10,005.9
(42.6) (6,246.4)
(207.6)

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(20.0)

(553.0)

(573.0)

61.4

60.7

59.8

110.5

169.4

217.0

281.1

390.5

522.3

769.4

544.4 3,186.5

(11.7)

(11.5)

(11.4)

(21.0)

(32.2)

(39.1)

(50.6)

(70.1)

(89.9)

(121.4)

(85.5)

(544.4)

49.7

49.2

48.4

89.5

137.2

177.9

230.5

320.4

432.4

648.0

458.9 2,642.1

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

157

Notes to the financial statements continued

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued 
Analysis of movements in loss development tables
We have updated our loss development tables to show the ultimate loss ratios as at 31 December 2013 for each  
underwriting year.

Generally, the claims experience has been in line with or better than expected. There was notably benign natural catastrophe 
experience on the 2012 underwriting year, which resulted in the release of unutilised catastrophe reserve margin. The initial 
reserves established in respect of the 2010 and 2011 natural catastrophe events have remained appropriate in light of 
development to date. 

Life, accident & health
The 2011 and 2012 reserves were strengthened on the income protection segment of the portfolio, emerging claims experience 
exceeded expectation. The 2013 underwriting year opening loss ratio reflects this. The remainder of the portfolio developed  
as expected.

Marine
The sustained period of exceptional performance continued as all years exhibited stable to strongly favourable development.

Political risks & contingency
The financial crisis-exposed 2006, 2007 and 2008 underwriting years for our political risks business have continued to develop 
favourably in 2013. The subsequent underwriting years showed lower claim frequency, which is now being borne out in reserve 
releases. 

Property
2013 saw stable to strongly positive development across all underwriting years. Reserve releases on the 2010 and 2011 natural 
catastrophes, generally favourable attrition and benign natural catastrophe experience on the 2012 underwriting year each 
played their part.

Reinsurance
The benign natural catastrophe experience in 2012 can readily be seen in the development of that underwriting year. In addition, 
there was improvement on the 2010 and 2011 underwriting years as the reserves initially established on the natural catastrophes 
have being proving more than sufficient. 

Specialty lines
During 2013, the hard market 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 underwriting years continued their exceptional development.  
The team maintained its vigilance on the 2007 and post underwriting years. The nature of claims development and the residual 
uncertainty in these years coupled with our consistent reserving philosophy has resulted in stable to marginally decreasing  
loss ratios.

Our 2010 and 2011 underwriting year loss ratios opened slightly higher than in the previous years to reflect the rating and claims 
environment and to allow consistency to be maintained in our reserving philosophy. Our 2012 and 2013 underwriting years 
opening loss ratios were lower than 2011 reflecting the growing benefit of our breach response product to the business mix.

158 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

www.beazley.com

 
Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

24 Insurance liabilities and reinsurance assets continued 
Claim releases
The table below analyses our net claims between current year claims and adjustments to prior year net claims reserves. These 
have been broken down by department and period. Beazley’s reserving policy is to maintain catastrophe reserve margins either 
until the end of the exposure period or until catastrophe events occur. Therefore margins have been released on those classes 
affected by superstorm Sandy. 

The net of reinsurance estimates of ultimate claims costs on the 2012 and prior underwriting years has improved by $218.0m 
during 2013 (2012: $126.0m). This movement has arisen from a combination of better than expected claims experience coupled 
with small changes to the many assumptions reacting to the observed experience and anticipating any changes as a result of the 
new business written.

The movements shown on 2010 and earlier are absolute claim movements and are not impacted by any current year movements 
in premium on those underwriting years.

2013
Current year
Prior year
– 2010 underwriting year and earlier
– 2011 underwriting year
– 2012 underwriting year 

Net insurance claims

2012
Current year
Prior year
– 2009 underwriting year and earlier
– 2010 underwriting year
– 2011 underwriting year

Net insurance claims

Life,
accident
 & health
 $m
66.2

(1.4)
7.0
(1.0)
 4.6 
70.8

Life,
accident
 & health
 $m
46.9

–
–
(0.5)
(0.5)
46.4

Political
 risks &
 contingency
 $m
44.1

Property
$m
155.9

Reinsurance
$m
85.1

(27.8)
(3.8)
(7.8)
(39.4) 
4.7

(18.9)
(8.0)
(6.8)
(33.7) 
122.2

(18.4)
(9.6)
(27.6)
(55.6) 
29.5

Political
 risks &
 contingency
 $m
44.8

Property
$m
146.6

Reinsurance
$m
94.3

(22.4)
(4.3)
(6.4)
(33.1)
11.7

(6.7)
5.4
(4.9)
(6.2)
140.4

(4.8)
(3.8)
1.6
(7.0)
87.3

Marine
$m
136.0

(14.8)
(21.4)
(11.1)
(47.3) 
88.7

Marine
$m
144.6

(9.4)
(10.3)
(8.0)
(27.7)
116.9

Specialty
lines
$m
449.8

(43.4)
(3.2)
–
(46.6) 
403.2

Specialty
lines
$m
427.2

(47.8)
(3.7)
–
(51.5)
375.7

Total 
$m 
937.1

(124.7)
(39.0)
(54.3)
(218.0) 
719.1

Total 
$m 
904.4

(91.1)
(16.7)
(18.2)
(126.0)
778.4

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

159

Notes to the financial statements continued

25 Borrowings
The carrying amount and fair values of the non-current borrowings are as follows:

Group
Carrying value
Subordinated debt
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Retail bond

Fair value
Subordinated debt
Tier 2 subordinated debt
Retail bond

Company
Carrying value
Retail bond

Fair value
Retail bond

2013
$m

18.0
132.1
123.0
273.1

18.0
135.9
128.9
282.8

2013
$m

2012
$m

18.0
176.5
120.5
315.0

18.0
178.7
127.7
324.4

2012
$m

123.0

120.5

128.9

127.7

The fair value of the tier 2 subordinated debt and retail bond is based on quoted market prices. For the subordinated debt that  
is not quoted, a discounted cash flow model is used based on a current yield curve appropriate for the remaining term to maturity. 

In November 2004, the group issued subordinated debt of US $18m to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPMorgan). The loan is 
unsecured and interest is payable at the USD London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) plus a margin of 3.65% per annum. The 
subordinated notes are due in November 2034 and have been callable at the group’s option since 2009.

In October 2006, the group issued £150m of unsecured fixed/floating rate subordinated notes that are due in October 2026  
with a first call at the group’s option in October 2016. Interest of 7.25% per annum is paid annually in arrears for the period  
up to October 2016. From October 2016, the notes will bear annual interest at the rate of 3.28% above LIBOR. In February 2013 
we bought back an additional nominal amount of £26.2m, bringing the total debt buyback since 2012 to £73.5m. Refer to note 8  
for further detail on the debt buyback.

In September 2012, the group issued £75m of sterling denominated 5.375% notes due 2019. Interest at a fixed rate of 5.375%  
is payable in March and September each year.

In addition to these borrowings we operate a syndicated short-term banking facility, managed through Lloyds Banking Group plc.  
In June 2013 we renewed our syndicated short-term banking facility led by Lloyds Banking Group plc. The facility provides potential 
borrowings up to $225m. The agreement is based on a commitment fee of 0.6% per annum and any amounts drawn are charged 
at a margin of 1.75% per annum. The cash element of the facility will last for three years, expiring on 31 December 2016, whilst 
letters of credit issued under the facility can be used to provide support for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 underwriting years. The 
facility is currently unutilised.

160 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

26 Other payables

Group
Reinsurance premiums payable
Accrued expenses including staff bonuses
Other payables
Deferred consideration payable on acquisition of MGAs
Due to syndicate 6107

Company
Other payables

2013
$m
191.3
89.4
4.5
7.1
15.5
307.8

2013
$m
1.8
1.8

2012
$m
244.5
87.9
1.9
12.9
13.7
360.9

2012
$m
1.9
1.9

All other payables are payable within one year of the reporting date other than deferred consideration which is payable after one 
year. The carrying value approximates fair values.

27 Retirement benefit obligations

Present value of funded obligations
Fair value of plan assets
Retirement benefit liability in the statement of financial position

Amounts recognised in the statement of profit or loss
Current service cost
Interest cost
Expected return on plan assets

2013
$m
39.9
(37.5)
2.4

–
1.3
(1.3)
–

2012
(restated)
$m
33.1
(32.4)
0.7

–
1.3
(1.0)
0.3

Beazley Furlonge Limited operates a defined benefit pension scheme (‘the Beazley Furlonge Limited Pension Scheme’).  
The scheme provides the following benefits:
• an annual pension payable to the member from his or her normal pension age (60th birthday) of generally 1/60th of final 

pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service up to 31 March 2006;

• a spouse’s pension of 2/3rds of the member’s pension payable on the member’s death after retirement;
• a lump sum of four times current pensionable salary for death in service at the date of death;
• a pension of 2/3rds of the member’s prospective pension at the date of death, payable to the spouse until their death.  

This pension is related to salary at the date of death.

The scheme is administered by a trust that is legally separated from the group. The trustees consist of both employee and 
employer representatives and an independent chair, all of whom are governed by the scheme rules.

The scheme exposes the group to additional actuarial, interest rate and market risk.

Contributions to the scheme are determined by a qualified actuary using the projected unit method as set out in the scheme  
rules and the most recent valuation was at 31 December 2013. The group expects to pay $1.6m in contributions to the scheme  
in 2014. 

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Annual report 2013

161

 
Notes to the financial statements continued

27 Retirement benefit obligations continued

Movement in present value of funded obligations recognised in the statement of financial position
Balance at 1 January
Current service cost
Interest cost
Actuarial losses
Benefits paid
Foreign exchange loss
Balance at 31 December

Movement in fair value of plan assets recognised in the statement of financial position
Balance at 1 January
Expected return on plan assets
Actuarial gains
Employer contributions
Benefits paid
Foreign exchange gain
Balance at 31 December

Plan assets are comprised as follows:
Equities
Bonds 
Cash
Total

The actual gain on plan assets was $3.1m (2012: $2.8m).

Principal actuarial assumptions
Discount rate
Inflation rate
Expected return on plan assets
Future salary increases
Future pensions increases
Life expectancy for members aged 60 at 31 December 2013
Life expectancy for members aged 46 at 31 December 2013

2013
$m

33.1
–
1.3
4.9
(0.3)
0.9
39.9

32.4
1.3
1.8
1.6
(0.3)
0.7
37.5

20.2
14.3
3.0
37.5

2013
$m

2012
(restated)
$m

27.4
–
1.3
2.9
(0.3)
1.8
33.1

26.6
1.0
1.8
1.6
(0.3)
1.7
32.4

16.3
14.7
1.4
32.4

2012
$m

4.4%
3.4%
4.4%
6.2%
2.9%
90 years
92 years

4.1%
2.4%
4.1%
5.2%
2.1%
89 years
91 years

At 31 December 2013, the weighted-average duration of the defined benefit obligation was 12.8 years (2012: 12.9 years)

162 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

27 Retirement benefit obligations continued
Sensitivity analyses
Changes in the relevant actuarial assumptions would result in a change in the value of the funded obligation as shown below: 

31 December 2013
Discount rate (0.5% decrease)
Inflation rate (0.3% decrease)
Future salary changes (0.5% decrease)
Life expectancy (1 year increase)

31 December 2012
Discount rate (0.5% decrease)
Inflation rate (0.3% decrease)
Future salary changes (0.5% decrease)
Life expectancy (1 year increase)

28 Deferred tax

Deferred tax asset
Deferred tax liability

The movement in the net deferred income tax is as follows:
Balance at 1 January
Income tax credit/(charge)
Amounts recorded through equity
Foreign exchange translation differences
Balance at 31 December

Plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Underwriting profits
Tax losses
Other
Net deferred income tax account

Plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Underwriting profits
Tax losses
Other
Net deferred income tax account

Increase
$m
5.4
–
–
0.9

Increase
$m
4.1
–
–
0.6

2013
$m
8.7
(65.0)
(56.3)

(73.0)
15.6
0.7
0.4
(56.3)

Balance
1 Jan 13
$m
 0.4 
 0.2 
(204.1 )
 127.1 
3.4
(73.0 )

Balance
1 Jan 12
$m
0.7
(0.7)
(389.9)
319.0
3.2
(67.7)

Recognised
 in income
$m
 0.1 
 1.2 
 135.0 
(118.4) 
(2.3)
 15.6 

Recognised
 in income
$m
(0.3)
0.9
185.8
(191.9)
0.1
(5.4)

Recognised
 in equity
$m
–    
 – 
– 
– 
 0.7
 0.7 

FX translation
differences
$m
 – 
– 
 – 
 – 
 0.4
 0.4 

Recognised
 in equity
$m
–
–
–
–
–
–

FX translation
differences
$m
–
–
–
–
0.1
0.1

Decrease
$m
–
2.8
0.2
–

Decrease
$m
–
2.2
0.1
–

2012
$m
11.0
(84.0)
(73.0)

(67.7)
(5.4)
–
0.1
(73.0)

Balance 
31 Dec 13
$m
 0.5 
 1.4 
(69.1) 
 8.7 
 2.2
(56.3) 

Balance 
31 Dec 12
$m
0.4
0.2
(204.1)
127.1
3.4
(73.0)

The group has recognised deferred tax assets on unused tax losses to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will 
be available against which unused tax losses can be utilised, as supported by financial projections.

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Annual report 2013

163

Notes to the financial statements continued

29 Operating lease commitments 
The group leases land and buildings under non-cancellable operating lease agreements. 

The future minimum lease payments under the non-cancellable operating leases are as follows:

No later than one year
Later than one year and no later than five years
Later than five years

2013
$m
8.2
30.7
18.6
57.5

2012
$m
8.8
29.3
18.5
56.6

30 Related party transactions
The group and company have related party relationships with syndicates 623 and 6107, its subsidiaries, associates and  
its directors.

30.1 Syndicates 623 and 6107
The group received management fees and profit commissions for providing a range of management services to syndicates 623  
and 6107, which are managed by the group. In addition, the group ceded portions or all of a group of insurance policies to  
syndicate 6107.

Details of transactions entered into and the balances with these syndicates are as follows:

Written premium ceded to syndicates
Other income received from syndicates
Services provided

Balances due:
Due from syndicate 623
Due to syndicate 6107

30.2 Key management compensation

Salaries and other short-term benefits
Post-employment benefits
Share-based remuneration

2013
$m
23.8
30.8
33.3

2012
$m
11.9
24.0
29.1

17.0
(15.5)

19.0
(13.7)

2013
$m
19.7
0.8
9.4
29.9

2012
$m
16.4
0.7
7.3
24.4

Key management include executives and non-executive directors and other senior management.

Further details of directors’ shareholdings and remuneration can be found in the directors’ remuneration report on pages 74 to 98.

30.3 Other related party transactions
At 31 December 2013, the group had a balance payable to the associate (Falcon Money Management Limited) of $0.1m (2012: 
receivable $1.4m) and purchased services from the associate of $8.8m (2012: $8.3m) throughout the year. All transactions with 
the associate and subsidiaries are priced on an arm’s length basis.

164 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

31 Parent company and subsidiary undertakings
Beazley plc is the ultimate parent and the ultimate controlling party within the group.

The following is a list of all the subsidiaries in the group:

Beazley Group Limited*
Beazley Furlonge Holdings Limited
Beazley Furlonge Limited
Beazley Investments Limited
Beazley Underwriting Limited
Beazley Management Limited
Beazley Staff Underwriting Limited
Beazley Solutions Limited
Beazley Underwriting Services Limited
Beazley DAS Limited
Beazley Corporate Member (No.2) 
Limited
Beazley Re Limited
Beazley Underwriting Pty Ltd
Beyond Group Holdings Pty Ltd
Blue-GUM Special Risks Pty Ltd
Australian Income Protection Pty Ltd
Beazley USA Services, Inc.
Beazley Holdings, Inc.
Beazley Group (USA) General Partnership
Beazley Insurance Company, Inc.
First State Management  Group, Inc
Beazley Limited
Beazley Pte. Limited

Country of
incorporation
England
England
England
England
England
England
England
England
England
England

England
Ireland
Australia
Australia
Australia
Australia
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Hong Kong
Singapore

Ownership
Nature of business
interest
Intermediate holding company
100%
Intermediate holding company
100%
Lloyd’s underwriting agents
100%
Investment company
100%
100%
Underwriting at Lloyd’s
100% Intermediate management company
Underwriting at Lloyd’s
100%
Insurance services
100%
100%
Insurance services
Dividend access scheme
100%

Functional 
currency
USD
USD
GBP
USD
USD
GBP
USD
GBP
GBP
GBP

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

Underwriting at Lloyd’s
Underwriting at Lloyd’s
Insurance services
Intermediate holding company
Insurance services
Insurance services
Insurance services
Holding company
General partnership
Underwriting admitted lines 
Insurance services
Insurance services
Underwriting at Lloyd’s

USD
USD
AUD
AUD
AUD
AUD
USD
USD
USD
USD
USD
HKD
SGD

* Beazley plc holds direct investment in Beazley Group Limited of $2.

Beazley plc direct 
investment in 
subsidiary ($m)
*

747.2

747.2

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Beazley 
Annual report 2013

165

 
Notes to the financial statements continued

32 Contingencies
32.1 Funds at Lloyd’s
The following amounts are subject to a deed of charge in favour of Lloyd’s to secure underwriting commitments.

Debt securities and other fixed income securities

Underwriting
year
2014
£m
563.0

Underwriting
year
2013
£m
558.0

Underwriting
year
2012
£m
482.9

32.2 Financial guarantee
The parent company has provided a financial guarantee in favour of its subsidiary Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. which 
unconditionally guarantees the payment of amounts due to third-party reinsurers in the event of the inability of the subsidiary 
company to meet its obligations.

33 Foreign exchange rates
The group used the following exchange rates to translate foreign currency assets, liabilities, income and expenses into US dollars, 
being the group’s presentation currency:

Pound sterling
Canadian dollar
Euro

2013

2012

Average
0.64
1.03
0.76

Year end spot
0.60
1.06
0.72

Average
0.63
0.99
0.77

Year end spot
0.61
0.99
0.75

34 Subsequent events
There are no events that are material to the operations of the group that have occurred since the reporting date.

166 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Strategic report

Governance

Financial statements

Glossary

Aggregates/aggregations
Accumulations of insurance loss exposures which result  
from underwriting multiple risks that are exposed to common 
causes of loss.

Aggregate excess of loss
The reinsurer indemnifies an insurance company (the reinsured) 
for an aggregate (or cumulative) amount of losses in excess  
of a specified aggregate amount.

A.M. Best
A.M. Best is a worldwide insurance-rating and information 
agency whose ratings are recognised as an ideal benchmark  
for assessing the financial strength of insurance related 
organisations, following a rigorous quantitative and qualitative 
analysis of a company’s balance sheet strength, operating 
performance and business profile. 

Binding authority
A contracted agreement between a managing agent and a 
coverholder under which the coverholder is authorised to enter 
into contracts of insurance for the account of the members  
of the syndicate concerned, subject to specified terms  
and conditions.

Capacity
This is the maximum amount of premiums that can be accepted 
by a syndicate. Capacity also refers to the amount of insurance 
coverage allocated to a particular policyholder or in the 
marketplace in general.

Capital growth assets
These are assets that do not pay a regular income and target  
an increase in value over the long-term. They will typically  
have a higher risk and volatility than that of the core portfolio. 
Currently these are the hedge fund assets.

Catastrophe reinsurance
A form of excess of loss reinsurance which, subject to a  
specified limit, indemnifies the reinsured company for the 
amount of loss in excess of a specified retention with respect  
to an accumulation of losses resulting from a catastrophic  
event or series of events.

Coverholder/managing general agent
A firm either in the United Kingdom or overseas authorised  
by a managing agent under the terms of a binding authority to 
enter into contracts of insurance in the name of the members  
of the syndicate concerned, subject to certain written terms  
and conditions. A Lloyd’s broker can act as a coverholder.

Deferred acquisition costs (DAC)
Costs incurred for the acquisition or the renewal of insurance 
policies (eg brokerage, premium levy and staff related  
costs) which are capitalised and amortised over the term  
of the contracts.

Earnings per share (EPS) – basic/diluted
Ratio, in pence and cents, calculated by dividing the 
consolidated profit after tax by the weighted average number  
of ordinary shares issued, excluding shares owned by the group. 
For calculating diluted earnings per share the number of shares 
and profit or loss for the year is adjusted for certain dilutive 
potential ordinary shares such as share options granted to 
employees.

Excess per risk reinsurance
A form of excess of loss reinsurance which, subject to a 
specified limit, indemnifies the reinsured company against the 
amount of loss in excess of a specified retention with respect  
to each risk involved in each loss.

Expense ratio
Ratio, in percentage terms, of the sum of expenses for 
acquisition of insurance contracts and administrative expenses 
to net earned premiums. The calculation is performed excluding 
the impact of foreign exchange on non-monetary items.

Facultative reinsurance
A reinsurance risk that is placed by means of a separately 
negotiated contract as opposed to one that is ceded under  
a reinsurance treaty.

Gross premiums written
Amounts payable by the insured, excluding any taxes  
or duties levied on the premium, including any brokerage  
and commission deducted by intermediaries.

Claims
Demand by an insured for indemnity under an  
insurance contract.

Hard market 
An insurance market where prevalent prices are high,  
with restrictive terms and conditions offered by insurers.

Claims ratio
Ratio, in percentage terms, of net insurance claims to net 
earned premiums. The calculation is performed excluding  
the impact of foreign exchange.

Combined ratio
Ratio, in percentage terms, of the sum of net insurance  
claims, expenses for acquisition of insurance contracts  
and administrative expenses to net earned premiums.  
This is also the sum of the expense ratio and the claims  
ratio. The calculation is performed excluding the impact  
of foreign exchange.

Horizontal limits
Reinsurance coverage limits for multiple events.

Incurred but not reported (IBNR)
These are anticipated or likely claims that may result from an 
insured event although no claims have been reported so far.

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
An independent accounting body responsible for developing 
IFRS.

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Annual report 2013

167

Glossary continued

International Accounting Standards (IAS)/International  
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Standards formulated by the IASB with the intention of 
achieving internationally comparable financial statements. 
Since 2002, the standards adopted by the IASB have been 
referred to as International Financial Reporting Standards 
(IFRS). Until existing standards are renamed, they continue  
to be referred to as International Accounting Standards (IAS).

Lead underwriter
The underwriter of a syndicate who is responsible for setting  
the terms of an insurance or reinsurance contract that is 
subscribed by more than one syndicate and who generally  
has primary responsibility for handling any claims arising  
under such a contract.

Line
The proportion of an insurance or reinsurance risk that is 
accepted by an underwriter or which an underwriter is willing  
to accept.

Managing agent
A company that is permitted by Lloyd’s to manage the 
underwriting of a syndicate.

Managing general agent (MGA)
An insurance intermediary acting as an agent on behalf  
of an insurer.

Retention limits
Limits imposed upon underwriters for retention of exposures  
by the group after the application of reinsurance programmes.

Return on equity (ROE)
Ratio, in percentage terms, calculated by dividing the 
consolidated profit after tax by the average daily total equity.

Retrocessional reinsurance
The reinsurance of the reinsurance account. It serves  
to ‘lay off’ risk.

Risk
This term may variously refer to:
a)   the possibility of some event occurring which causes injury  

or loss;

b)  the subject matter of an insurance or reinsurance contract; or
c)  an insured peril.

Sidecar special purpose syndicate
Specialty reinsurance company designed to provide additional 
capacity to a specific insurance company. It operates by 
purchasing a portion or all of a group of insurance policies, 
typically CAT exposures. These companies have become quite 
prominent in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a vehicle to 
add risk-bearing capacity, and for investors to participate in the 
potential profits resulting from sharp price increases.

Medium-tail
A type of insurance where the claims may be made a few years 
after the period of insurance has expired.

Short-tail
A type of insurance where claims are usually made during  
the term of the policy or shortly after the policy has expired. 
Property insurance is an example of short-tail business.

Net assets per share
Ratio, in pence and cents, calculated by dividing the net assets 
(total equity) by the number of shares issued.

Soft market
An insurance market where prevalent prices are low, and terms 
and conditions offered by insurers are less restrictive.

Net premiums written 
Net premiums written is equal to gross premiums written less 
outward reinsurance premiums written.

Surplus lines insurer
An insurer that underwrites surplus lines insurance in the USA. 
Lloyd’s underwriters are surplus lines insurers in all jurisdictions 
of the USA except Kentucky and the US Virgin Islands.

Provision for outstanding claims
Provision for claims that have already been incurred at the 
reporting date but have either not yet been reported or not  
yet been fully settled.

Total shareholder return (TSR)
The increase in the share price plus the value of any first and 
second dividends paid and proposed during the year.

Rate
The premium expressed as a percentage of the sum insured  
or limit of indemnity.

Treaty reinsurance
A reinsurance contract under which the reinsurer agrees to offer 
and to accept all risks of certain size within a defined class.

Reinsurance special purpose syndicate
A special purpose syndicate (SPS) created to operate as a 
reinsurance ‘sidecar’ to Beazley’s treaty account, capitalising  
on Beazley’s position in the treaty reinsurance market.

Unearned premiums reserve
The portion of premium income in the business year that is 
attributable to periods after the reporting date in the 
underwriting provisions.

Reinsurance to close (RITC)
A reinsurance which closes a year of account by transferring the 
responsibility for discharging all the liabilities that attach to that 
year of account (and any year of account closed into that year), 
plus the right to buy any income due to the closing year of 
account, into an open year of account in return for a premium.

168 Beazley 

Annual report 2013

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Beazley plc

2 Northwood Avenue
Northwood Park 
Santry Demesne
Santry
Dublin 9 | Ireland

Phone: +353 (0)1 854 4700
Fax: +353 (0)1 842 8481

Registered number: 102680

www.beazley.com