Nine months after opening the doors of its Lloyd’s operation, Santam is putting more people and capacity behind a business whose profits have yet to show up in its accounts.
The latest addition is Hina Shavdia (pictured), who has been appointed chief operating officer of Santam Syndicate 1918 in London. She joins from Volante Global, where she was group COO, and will report to Syndicate chief executive Sam Geddes, who took up his position in June.
Shavdia’s appointment comes as the Syndicate moves beyond its start-up phase. It has already concluded business with estimated premium income (EPI) of R1.3 billion, Lloyd’s has approved additional capacity for the remainder of 2026, and Santam is adding underwriting and operational capability.
“The Santam Syndicate has made significant progress since launching, and I am excited to join the team at such an important stage in its development. My focus will be on ensuring we have the right operating model, capabilities, and foundations in place to support continued profitable growth,” Shavdia said.
The catch is that much of the premium from that business has not yet been recognised in Santam’s accounts – and the costs have.
By the end of June, R461 million had been recognised as gross written premium (GWP) and R87m as net earned premium. Syndicate 1918 reported a R230m underwriting loss for the six months, while Santam now expects its operational loss for 2026 to come in at about R450m to R550m.
Santam says that mismatch is largely about timing. Much of the Syndicate’s business has been written through consortia and facility arrangements, where GWP recognition is deferred over 12 months, while the costs of building the operation are being incurred now. Most of the remaining EPI is expected to flow into recognised GWP during the second half of 2026.
Santam attributes the short-term earnings impact to the delayed recognition of premium under IFRS and the investment required to expand the portfolio. It expects the business concluded to date to be profitable on a year-of-account basis and the operation to reach monthly break-even during 2027.
For now, however, investors have Santam’s projections rather than a reported profit to work with. And Santam is not waiting for that profit before pushing ahead.
Building the book
Sanlam’s interim results describe Syndicate 1918 as “scaling ahead of profitability”.
The operation is live at Lloyd’s, with 25 staff, including 12 underwriters. Consortia and facility lines are already in place, and Lloyd’s has approved more than £300m of capacity for 2026.
Sanlam says the book is being built deliberately and selectively, with a target return on capital of 24% and profitability measured on a year-of-account basis.
Much of the business written so far will take time to flow through the income statement. Santam expects most of the additional business written in 2026 to be recognised as earned revenue in 2027 and 2028, while the associated Lloyd’s market costs and fixed costs are recognised in 2026.
The scale-up also requires financial backing.
When Syndicate 1918 was established, Santam put US$118m into Funds at Lloyd’s (FAL) – the capital Lloyd’s requires to stand behind the Syndicate’s insurance commitments and provide financial security if claims arise.
In March, Santam arranged a further US$50m letter of credit to support the Syndicate’s FAL requirements. The facility runs until March 2027, and Santam recognised R11m in related interest expense in the first half of the year.
What happened to Avatar?
Santam’s decision to put more resources into the Syndicate comes as another part of its international insurance strategy is being scaled back.
In July 2025, Santam acquired 51% of UK-based Avatar Holdings for £3m. Avatar was a start-up with a technology platform designed to underwrite and price mid-sized corporate risks more efficiently than traditional methods. Sanlam identified the US mid-sized corporate market as a significant opportunity.
The original plan was not to put underwriting capacity – the amount of insurance business that an insurer or underwriting partner is prepared to back financially – behind Avatar immediately. The business would first establish a track record, after which it could potentially become a source of new business for Syndicate 1918.
Less than a year later, Santam was redirecting resources.
Santam says the sharp decline in US property rates had reduced the availability of profitable business in Avatar’s niche segments. It responded by diverting resources into Syndicate 1918 and releasing Avatar’s capacity back to providers until market conditions improve.
Put simply, although Santam remains invested in Avatar, it has stopped providing the underwriting backing needed to write new business through the platform for now.
The interim annual results do not disclose how much capacity Avatar had received or when it was deployed.
The shift comes as Santam continues to build its international book. Business outside South Africa accounted for 23% of GWP in the first half of 2026, compared with 20% a year earlier. The group’s long-term target is to take international business above 30% by 2030.
The Syndicate and the GIFT City operation in India, which opened in April, are part of that expansion. Santam described both launches as accelerating its international diversification and expansion strategy.
