Actuary Targets EU Business Through Gibraltar

Paul Tysoe, a veteran Gibraltar-based actuary, said Gibraltar's growth as a European insurance domicile has made it more attractive as a base from which those of his profession can operate.

Tysoe was recently named director of the new Gibraltar branch of Mazars Actuaries and Consultants LLP. In announcing the opening of the office, Mazars pointed to "the considerable growth in Gibraltar's insurance market over the last eight years" and the likely demand to be created by the advent of Solvency II in the European Union.

The office will concentrate on the general, or nonlife insurance sector, but will also serve life insurers and pension providers across Europe. The new office will be "a bridgehead" into the actuarial market in Gibraltar, Tysoe said.

Mazars has "identified Gibraltar as being an ideal place to offer a range of actuarial services, but very much with a man on the ground. And that's me, of course," said Tysoe.

The practice for other actuarial firms has been to service Gibraltar from the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, Tysoe said in a telephone interview from Gibraltar. "They don't have people here in situ," he said.

The Gibraltar insurance market is "in very good health," with a growth in recent years in the number of insurers domiciled there, Tysoe said.

"Back in 2002 for example, there were just over 20 insurance entities here," Tysoe said. "Today, at the last count, there were just over 60."

The Gibraltar insurance market is dominated by nonlife companies, with a heavy presence in motor cover, Tysoe said. Motor insurers, he added, sell through aggregator sites and brokers. There are also insurers selling household, commercial and post-event legal cover, he said.

"If there is one thread which runs through all of these different types of general insurance entities, in my opinion, it would be that they are really quite entrepreneurial in their offerings," Tysoe said.

Gibraltar has "a lighter touch" in terms of regulation, Tysoe said. This means "less red tape, more streamlining in terms of the application process, but no less scrutiny in terms of the questions that are asked about people setting up."

For insurance purposes, Gibraltar is part of the European Union, Tysoe said. Solvency II will require insurance companies to strengthen their actuarial capabilities and may affect their capital requirements in unknown ways, he said.

"At present, the number of firms making use of actuaries in Gibraltar is, I would say, fairly limited," Tysoe said.

Tysoe, who has worked in Gibraltar for six years, helped establish the territory's sub-committee on Solvency II. He has worked in personal lines insurance for 14 years. He comes to Mazars from Zenith Insurance, where he was an executive director.

(By Robert O'Connor, London editor: [email protected])