Cedar Trace Underwriting has a new $300 million Lloyd’s syndicate for the 2027 underwriting year, after last week’s in-principle approval from the Lloyd’s Council. It is led by chief underwriting officer Richard Holden.

Cedar Trace is the Bermudian-based insurance, reinsurance and asset management group with scalable solutions across multiple platforms.

The Cedar Trace syndicate will write a diversified reinsurance portfolio alongside a delegated direct insurance portfolio, marking a significant expansion of Cedar Trace’s existing Bermuda-based reinsurance and asset management platform into the Lloyd’s market.

The company said capital supporting the new syndicate is expected to mainly come from existing shareholders of Mereo Insurance as well as investors supporting Cedar Trace Capital Management’s insurance-linked securities funds.

It will operate under a third party service agreement, with Asta providing managing agency and associated services.

Cedar Trace is a management company established in 2024 and led by Brian Duperreault.

It is closely affiliated with Mereo Insurance Ltd, the Bermuda-based reinsurance company led by Lloyd’s veteran David Croom-Johnson, who will serve as executive chairman of the new syndicate.

Mr Duperreault commented: “We are excited to be able to bring our experienced and talented team to Lloyd’s and to bring new relationships, new business and new capital to the market.

“We have built out our Bermuda platforms to over $1billion of gross written premium in 2026 and entry into Lloyd’s in 2027 is a natural next step in scaling our ambitions. I would like to thank the team for getting us this far and in particular, Fergus Reynolds, one of our partners, for his outstanding contribution.”

Mr Holden said: “Lloyd’s is obviously a market that David and I know extremely well and the capital and licensing advantages that it brings allow us to expand our offerings to our existing reinsurance relationships and to bring new delegated cover holders to the market.”

Lorraine Harfitt, CEO of Asta, said: “We are delighted to support Cedar Trace as it establishes its Lloyd’s platform. The strength of the team, combined with its innovative approach to capital and underwriting, makes this an exciting addition to the market.”

The launch will give Cedar Trace an additional source of underwriting capacity and access to Lloyd’s distribution that complements and adds scale to the existing Bermuda platform, the company said.