Trading in the first of Lloyd’s three 2025 capacity auctions reached £86 million, marking the most active opening auction in a decade, with capacity changing hands across 21 syndicates.
Volante Syndicate 1699, Convex Syndicate 1984, and Oak Syndicate 2843 all traded for the first time, signalling growing diversification in the market as new platforms enter the auction process.
Despite the buoyant trading volumes, average prices fell. Argenta’s composite index of all traded capacity dropped from 41.4p per £1 of capacity across the 2024 auctions to 36.9p this year.
As Reinsurance News understands, the decline partly reflects the inclusion of newly traded syndicates, many of which were priced at lower levels due to limited trading history and relatively small aligned capacity.
At a syndicate level, activity was polarised. Beazley’s Syndicate 623 was the most heavily traded, with £15.5 million changing hands at an average price of 52.5p per £1, broadly consistent with its strong market following and performance.
At the other end of the spectrum, NormanMax Syndicate 3939 saw £10.2 million traded at the lowest possible auction price of 0.1p.
In total, the first auction’s £86 million turnover represents more than half of last year’s £154 million traded across all three 2024 auctions, suggesting that 2025 could see an even more active market if momentum continues.
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