From October 2020, Fidelis Underwriting Limited and Fidelis Underwriting DAC increased their line size, enabling DUAL Asset to underwrite risks under existing delegated authority agreements up to GBP 1 billion. This maximum line applies to any single real estate asset or target company. This will allow DUAL Asset to participate in the largest transactions globally, be they single assets, companies or portfolios, providing real estate title, legal indemnity, share title insurances, as well as excess warranty and indemnity cover for fundamental warranties. DUAL Asset will also continue to underwrite on behalf of Norwich Union*, AXA, Liberty and RSA, across all product lines in the commercial and residential real estate and corporate sectors and inheritance protection.

The agreement to increase line size kicks off alongside the beginning of a new financial year at DUAL Group and will allow DUAL Asset to offer real estate and M&A insurance products to brokers on even more transactions and an increased participation in larger deals.

While overall transaction numbers, and values, have been depressed across all sectors in 2020, there was a very noticeable increase in Q3 and going into Q4. For those in real estate, it may not be a shock at all that logistics and distribution assets have featured heavily across Europe, but action has not be confined to any one sector. Agriculture, care, industrial, leisure, office, renewables and retail have all been represented in sale/purchase and finance contexts.

Elsewhere, the team continue to look at a significant number of development opportunities, large and small, and the UK residential market continues to confound. Despite stricter lockdown periods, across this year there have been enough very large transactions to maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook going into 2021. The trend for buyers to require share title insurance, large limit W&I insurance for title and capacity warranties and known risk insurance in operational transactions with either no or consequential real estate interests continues. In Q3 and Q4 alone, DUAL Asset have insured health, media, tech and telecoms transactions, as well as operational deals with heavy real estate assets in the manufacturing and leisure sectors.

DUAL Asset has underwritten on behalf of Fidelis since 2016 and this agreement is further evidence of an ongoing and future commitment to that successful partnership. It also coincides with the recent quota share deal Fidelis have arranged with Berkshire Hathaway, intended primarily to support larger line sizes and overall growth.

DUAL Asset, like Fidelis, see genuine opportunities despite very obvious domestic and global challenges. This latest agreement primes DUAL Asset for the foreseeable future.

Please contact Fergus Davey for more information.