Insurance practitioner wins prestigious UK prize

Insurance practitioner James Portelli, has received a discretionary prize and recognition from the Chartered Insurance Institute's Morgan Owen adjudication panel for his dissertation entitled 'Invins Exchange: capital and capacity cross-selling and consolidation'.

The annual Morgan Owen Award is the insurance world's most prestigious essay prize awarded for the best essay or dissertation entered by a Fellow or Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK). It was first established by Mr Owen FCII in 1911.

Because of the rigorous criteria, recognition is only awarded if the CII adjudication panel feels that the submission is of a sufficiently high standard that merits recognition. As a result, the Morgan Owen Medal has only been awarded three times during the last decade, the previous latest award being in 2005.

While commended for its academic value, Mr Portelli strongly feels that the Invins Exchange and its products are a practical market innovation that can be successfully implemented in an emerging international financial centre. The paper presents a case for the creation of a hybrid product that would replace 'shareholding' capital with an investment product structured into different funds.

On the back of this investment product underwriting capital (i.e. capacity) would be guaranteed for insurance purposes. The same investment product would, in turn, be structured into collective investment schemes (variable capital structures) that can be listed and freely traded. Therefore, the product, throughout its life cycle, transforms from an investment product, into insurance capacity, into a listed security - on the back of which, further investment gains can be realised. Because of its hybrid nature, Mr Portelli also explores the regulatory requirements for such a product to evolve as well as how it ties in with other insurance or investment products and regulations.

A chartered insurance practitioner by profession, Mr Portelli currently heads the business development unit of an 'S and P-rated insurance company in the Middle East.

Lord Hunt, FCII president of the CII, will be awarding the prize during the CII graduation ceremony next month. The dissertation will be made available through the CII Knowledge Services Division.