Introducing IFRS 17 into Beazley

It’s important to understand that IFRS 17 does not mandate the way we do business - we’re still the same, strong, stable company. The new standard simply improves the transparency of the reporting of our financial performance, making sure it’s clear, simple, and easy to understand by our brokers, clients, investors, and people.

We’re adapting some of our accounting calculations to meet the new rules, and in our future financial reporting, you’ll see robust detail about how we arrived at the results.

Simply put: our numbers stay the same, but the way we report them will be different, making it easier to understand our performance.

Right now, we’re focused on getting the detail right: we’re creating a new platform to manage the data, analysing our policies and processes, and making sure we have everything in place and are ready to go. 

As we journey through 2023, we’ll keep the market fully informed and make sure all our stakeholders understand the changes.

We are the same, strong, stable company we’ve always been. IFRS 17 will not mandate the way we do business, only the way we report our financial performance. 

Our strategy

IFRS 17 does not impact our ability to write business and the strategy we set out in our last Interim Report remains the same. We will continue to manage our business with our values at the forefront. 

Dividends

IFRS 17 does not have any impact on our dividends. Our dividend policy, as set out in our 2022 Annual Report, remains the same.

Our new accounting model – using GMM

IFRS 17 allows three models to be used and we have chosen the General Measurement Model (GMM). 

Why did we choose this model?

We have complex business – so when deciding on the best model, we completed a detailed analysis and agreed the GMM suited our business best.

The GMM is the default model under IFRS 17 and, as it is applicable to both short-term and long-term contracts, it works well for the way we do business today and will support our future growth plans. 

While it is a more complex model to implement, as a specialty insurer with multiple operating platforms, it will deliver the flexibility we need across our business without the additional changes and double working that other models require.   

Why is this a good model for our investors?

The GMM model ensures a high level of transparency and simplicity on our Profit and Loss statement and Balance Sheet. 

We will be required to disclose more detailed information on our calculations, predicted future financial performance, risks and judgements applied in our reporting, giving investors additional confidence. You should also find it easier to compare us to other financial and non-insurance companies.