International specialist insurer, Hiscox Ltd, found strong written premium growth in the first quarter.

The company said group insurance contract written premiums grew 8.3 per cent to nearly $1.54 billion (Q1 2023: $1,420.2 million) due to continued capital deployment in Re & ILS and the acceleration of retail growth since full year 2023.

Aki Hussain, the chief executive of Hiscox Ltd, said: “A good start to 2024, with our focus on profitable growth continuing to deliver.

“Retail momentum has improved with growth accelerating in Hiscox UK and US (Direct & Partnerships Division) as our initiatives achieve targeted outcomes, and solid sustained growth in Hiscox Europe.

“In Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re & ILS, we continue to deploy capital where we see attractive opportunities. The outlook for the year remains positive.”

Hiscox Retail ICWP grew by 5.8 per cent in constant currency as US (Direct & Partnerships Division) growth accelerated to 11.3 per cent; UK growth stepped up to 8.3 per cent in constant currency; and Europe continued to perform strongly; this was partially offset by continued headwinds within the US broker business, the company said.

Hiscox Re & ILS deployed additional capital and new quota share capacity, with ICWP growing by 19.0 per cent and net ICWP growing by 9.7 per cent.

Hiscox London Market ICWP contracted temporarily, following the non-renewal of certain large binder deals to instead write more open market business and also due to the impact of one-off accounting reclassification items. The first quarter contraction is expected to be offset by growth over the course of the year.

The Hiscox statement on 2024 Q1 results noted that large natural catastrophe losses were within expectations for the first quarter.