AEGIS has long been a steady presence in international casualty lines, but its ambitions in Canada and Australia are gaining fresh momentum. For Steve Merrick (pictured), head of the syndicate’s international casualty team, the focus isn’t on growth at any cost – it’s on staying relevant, reliable, and resilient through every market turn.
“We’re not obsessed with top-line growth,” Merrick said. “We care far more about performance, and maintaining the stability our clients rely on.”
Canada and Australia may be half a world apart, but AEGIS has considered both strategic pillars of its international portfolio since nearly the beginning.
“For us, they’ve always been core,” Merrick said. “These were some of our earliest territories outside the US and remain our largest by volume in the international casualty space.”
That longevity, he noted, has helped AEGIS become a recognized lead underwriter in both markets. But he’s quick to emphasize that leadership is not a status won overnight – it's built on consistency, discipline, and deep broker and cover holder relationships.
“Australia and Canada understand Lloyd’s. There’s a history of strong business flow to London and an appreciation for how we operate,” he said. “We’ve earned a reputation as a long-term, stable insurer – and that’s what clients value.”
The international casualty market is not without its headwinds. Competition has returned aggressively in recent years, with capital flooding back into the space, creating pricing pressure and a surge of short-term thinking.
“A lot of carriers left, restructured, or pivoted during the last phase,” Merrick said. “Now they’re coming back in, often with a focus on rapid growth rather than sustainability.”
For AEGIS, that creates a balancing act. The team must stay commercially relevant without compromising the principles that underpin its underwriting.
“This is a long-tail class, claims can develop over a decade. If you chase short-term wins and forget that, you risk everything,” Merrick said. “Our challenge is to maintain our philosophy while staying nimble enough to capture the right opportunities.”
Merrick sees casualty underwriting as a mirror of societal change. Shifts in climate, ESG priorities, litigation trends, and regulatory frameworks are all shaping risk exposures in real time.
“We couldn’t offer the same underwriting approach or solutions that we were offering 30 years ago to clients now, because the world’s moved on,” he said. “The world’s a totally different place than five years ago, so our thought process is constantly evolving to make sure we’re factoring in things like ESG and climate change.”
In Australia and Canada, for example, exposure to extreme weather events has created new types of losses that weren’t previously modelled or even considered.
“These events don’t just increase frequency and severity, they create entirely new claims scenarios,” Merrick said. “We use those experiences to engage with clients early, learn together, and build resilience into the coverage we offer.”
He added that one of Lloyd’s greatest strengths is its collaborative culture. Clients still fly into London to meet face-to-face, not just for tradition, but to trade knowledge.
“They bring what they’re seeing on the ground, and we share what we’re learning from across the market,” Merrick said. “That two-way dialogue helps keep our underwriting relevant and forward-looking.”
For all the talk of expansion, Merrick is adamant that scale alone isn’t the goal. Sustainable growth is welcome, he said, but only when conditions align.
“We won’t sacrifice underwriting discipline to chase market share,” he said. “Success for us means remaining a long-term partner, paying claims when they come due, and staying present for clients through the cycle.”
Canada and Australia remain key growth territories, but the syndicate is open to opportunities globally, as long as they fit AEGIS’s model and mindset.
“We’re always looking for the next golden nugget of a client or cover holder who values what we bring,” Merrick said. “Not the lowest price, not the broadest terms, but stability, reliability, and a relationship that lasts 10 or 20 years.”
As competition heats up, the biggest risk to success isn’t internal misstep – it’s market volatility driven by others.
“What keeps me up at night is the unpredictability of the cycle,” he said. “We don’t operate in a vacuum. But our strategy is designed to weather those shifts without compromising who we are.”
For AEGIS, the future in Canada and Australia looks less like a race for dominance and more like a steady climb, with trusted partners and proven discipline as the guideposts.
