Middlesea subsidiary rebrands to focus on insurance management portfolio

International Insurance Management Services, the Middlesea Group subsidiary, is to officially rebrand to Bee Insurance Management on Wednesday, general manager Elizabeth Carbonaro told The Sunday Times.

The catchy name is the outer packaging of a completely new direction for the insurance manager, which now aims to consolidate its position as a standalone profitable entity of Malta’s largest insurance group.

Under Middlesea’s restructuring programme, the company has completely shed its previous back office service responsibilities to the group and its subsidiaries – which amounted to around 80 per cent of its workload – to focus on strengthening its own client portfolio.

Bee currently has seven international clients: three through its subsidiary Euromed Risk Solutions Ltd and four originating primarily from Germany and the UK. The latter include Munich Re, an institutional shareholder in Middlesea Group and the world’s largest reinsurer.

IIMS was established in 1991 as Malta’s first insurance manager. As Bee, it is among the top three of just a handful of indigenous and international insurance managers registered in Malta.

Ms Carbonaro, an accountant by profession and until a few months ago, Middlesea’s chief officer, group finance, now leads a leaner team of professionals tasked with winning and managing new business. They too have been ‘injected’ by the vibrancy of the company’s new name .

“With this new set-up, we can focus on what is now our primary business, whereas previously we were ‘distracted’ by our functions within the group,” Ms Carbonaro explained.

“The international insurance industry in Malta is about more than captive insurance firms. Contrary to common knowledge, statistically, there are a larger number of insurance operators than the traditional captives which insure their own parent groups. Some captives which write group business also have an element of exposure to a third party, often to their group’s own clients.”

Bee’s current clients are all direct insurance underwriters which set up in Malta and passport to countries across the EU.

Among the services Bee currently offers are highly specialised services related to compliance, market intelligence, statutory expertise, insurance accounting, and risk management services, besides a host of ad hoc facilities.

Earlier this month, Middlesea Insurance plc reported its half-year results in which IIMS posted a slight improvement in fee income to €1 million. Its pre-tax profit contribution to IIMS to the group’s balance sheet amounted to €0.26 million, up from €0.24 million last year.

Ms Carbonaro said she was confident Bee will attract more insurance business to be managed locally. The company’s target clients are mostly niche players in any sector and the main focus will be on small or medium-sized groups in and around Europe.

While the current international financial climate may be showing some signs of an upturn, groups looking to establish or redomicile insurance operations are now taking even longer to make a final decision as organisations seek to be as cost-effective as possible.

Having built an excellent reputation as a captive domicile, Malta ticked the right boxes for groups looking to establish themselves here or those seeking to passport their services to the rest of the European Union. The most crucial advantages were a sound and approachable regulator and considerably more attractive cost-effectiveness than major international jurisdictions.

Ms Carbonaro pointed out it is up to all stakeholders in the industry to ensure these elements are preserved and that Malta does not gain a reputation for greed which would significantly hamper growth.

Some of Malta’s main competitor jurisdictions have fallen out of favour for other reasons, particularly because of over- or under-regulation.