Loan plan to help Lloyd's members

MORE financial help is being planned for distressed Lloyd's insurance underwriting members through a new partnership formed by the corporate finance adviser, JO Hambro Magan, and Randall Group, a prominent adviser to the insurance industry.

Hambro Magan and Randall are exploring ways of arranging loan finance to help underwriting members of Lloyd's, who are facing pounds 5.5bn worth of losses, to meet cash demands from the market to pay insurance claims.

The plan comes as thousands of underwriting members are seeking further financial help on top of a proposed payment by Lloyd's of pounds 900m to help the members stave off financial ruin.

It forms part of a range of initiatives mounted by Hambro Magan and Randall, who have today announced a new partnership in which the corporate finance adviser will take a 49 per cent stake in Randall Group.

Ken Randall, chief executive of the insurance adviser and a former head of regulation at Lloyd's, said the new partnership could offer 'independent thinking with banking skills' for Lloyd's members.

Mr Randall's group made its reputation through a wide-ranging investigation into the affairs of the stricken Gooda Walker underwriting agency at Lloyd's, where thousands of members are facing more than pounds 900m worth of losses. The report was passed to the Serious Fraud Office, which launched a formal inquiry.

Randall Group intends to offer advice for companies becoming investors in the Lloyd's insurance market for the first time and will offer corporate finance facilities through Hambro Magan.