Beazley acts to limit FX influence

7th Jan 2010 07:44

Specialist insurer and reinsurer Beazley, which took a £49.8m foreign exchange related hit to profits last year, has moved to reduce the impact of currency movements by matching the group’s underwriting capital by currency to the principal underlying currencies of its written premiums.The company said the move would ensure that its capacity to underwrite business would not be affected by any future movements in exchange rates.Accordingly the group has increased the US dollar component of its capital base by $487m since the start of 2010 with an equivalent decrease in the sterling component.Beazley has operations in the UK, US, France, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Last year it announced plans to rebase to the Republic of Ireland for tax purposes.