London-based insurance brokerage Jardin Lloyd Thompson Group, plc, said it is establishing the Thistle Underwriting Limited insurance company to provide underwriting services for its international group.

In a statement JLT said the development of the underwriting arm followed strategic work undertaken by the group that has identified “a substantial business opportunity for JLT” to develop an insurance distribution channel.

JLT said it is able to create the underwriting company because of advances in technology that streamline business and information, “eliminating the current areas of duplication between carriers and brokers.”

JLT said it will not provide insurance risk capital as part of the venture and Thistle will be a separate business from JLT.

James Gerry was named chief executive officer of Thistle, as of Jan. 1, 2008. He was most recently chief executive of Dual International and has held senior positions at Chubb.

JLT said it is anticipated that Thistle will be approved by the UK's Financial Services Authority in early 2008 and begin business shortly after.

JLT did not say what lines of business Thistle will underwrite or what the company's capacity will be.

In a statement Dominic Burke, CEO of JLT, said: “Many capital providers are coming increasingly to appreciate that the best way for them to secure an attractive return on large parts of their books of business is to standardize products and simplify the underwriting process.

“This they can do by outsourcing underwriting functions and partnering with an independent distributor. JLT makes a very attractive partner with its expertise and established strength in affinity marketing, the JLT online platform and our extensive international reach.”

A request for additional information regarding capacity and lines of business Thistle would focus on was not immediately returned.

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