Bermuda-based reinsurer IPCRe could be set to move into the London insurance market by buying or setting up a Lloyd's platform.

IPC's chief executive Jim Bryce said that a number of questions had been asked in previous conference calls about IPC diversifying its portfolio and the company has an amount of excess capital available it could use to invest.

He said the company had been looking at a Lloyd's platform, either through the "nuts and bolts" approach or through Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) activity, but added that the problem with the first approach was the time taken to get fully up and running at around two to three years and while buying a way in was immediate, it came at a risk and a high price.

"We are looking at all options and have not ruled out a Lloyd's syndicate," said Mr. Bryce.

"We recognise it can be a useful platform, but we felt that the current pricing of operations for the sale of a Lloyd's syndicate seemed to be a bit on the rich side.

"With the value of the sterling versus the dollar, it is probably not a very good time to do business, but the dollar could rebound and then there might be a forward-looking exchange loss."

Such a move would end months of speculation linking the Bermudian reinsurance company with the London market and would provide a platform to transform the firm's monoline business either through diversification by class and/or geographical scope.

"I guess we have never ruled out looking at other lines, but we have said we would never overpay if we made an acquisition," said Mr. Bryce.

IPC, along with rival RenaissanceRe, is the last of the undiversified 'Class of 1993' monoline property catastrophe reinsurers.

The company is set to celebrate its 15th anniversary next week with a party in Bermuda, followed by another one in London in the first week of September.