Italian worldwide leading broker for marine insurance Cambiaso Risso Group has signed a strategic partnership agreement with French insurance broker Siaci Saint Honore to foster a strong positioning in their markets.

The deal will be subject to approval by the competition authorities in some of the 42 countries in which the two companies are active and will come into effect in the second quarter. It will give birth to the world’s top three marine insurance broker in the world, and second in Europe.

President Marco Risso and Chief Executive Officer Mauro Iguera will keep their respective positions within Cambiaso Risso,  and will take major responsibilities in the international development of marine business worldwide of the Siaci Saint Honore Group.

The continuity of Cambiaso Risso brand and the company operational autonomy have been confirmed. Siaci Saint Honore will rely on the Genoa based company, present also in Trieste and Naples, to lead its development on the Italian market.

The complementarity between the two groups is very strong in the marine area, between the unchallenged leadership of Cambiaso Risso in the Hull and Machinery area, and the strong stake in Cargo of Siaci Saint Honore, which added Cap Marine in 2016 to its rich marine offer.

Cap Marine specialised entity could also bring its P&I expertise to strengthen the provided services.  The combination, which will regroup 285 employees in insurance brokerage manages more than € 550 million of premium, will also benefit from the presence of Cambiaso Risso in the Lloyds market through the joint venture CR MAG built with MAG JLT, in which Cambiaso Risso has now taken 100% of the shareholding. The new joint business will bill more than 55 m€ commissions.

For Cambiaso Risso, the choice of Siaci Saint Honore is the result of a process started about two years ago which involved a significant number of offers from insurance and financial fields.

With its need for extreme flexibility, maritime insurance brokerage sector has traditionally been operated by small and medium-sized companies characterized by strong loyalty to shipping companies.

Given the globalization of markets, Cambiaso Risso objective is now to continue providing the shipping sector with high quality services through a niche offering but with the clear target to expand their penetration to a wider geographical area.

In order to consolidate at a global level, partnership with Siaci Saint Honore has been identified as the most suitable to ensure Cambiaso Risso necessary strategic and financial support without getting into the difficult issue of integration of respective networks, as in this case the development will be based mostly on the existing Cambiaso Risso offices across the world, while relying on the international presence of Siaci Saint Honore to complete this map.