About Us
Syndicate Management
Investing at Lloyd's
tax-corporate-services
News
About Us
Syndicate Management
Investing at Lloyd's
tax-corporate-services
News
For individual investors and family offices, Lloyd’s of London offers access to a specialist alternative asset class with a proven track record, differentiated returns and compelling estate-planning benefits. At Argenta Private Capital, we help investors access this market through tailored underwriting vehicles, including limited liability companies known as NameCos and limited liability partnerships, (or LLPs).
These structures are now central to how individuals invest at Lloyd’s. NameCos offer a private limited company formed to underwrite at Lloyd’s, while an LLP provides a fiscally transparent partnership structure. Both allow investors to participate within a limited liability framework, replacing the historic unlimited liability model that once defined the Lloyd’s “Name” market.
One of the benefits of participating at Lloyd’s are the potential inheritance tax efficiencies. Providing certain conditions are met, Lloyd’s trading activities via an LLP or NameCo can qualify for “Business Relief”, making them both suitable for succession planning and investment diversification.
Following the changes effective from 6 April 2026, Business Relief can allow 100% Inheritance Tax relief up to a value of £2.5m for the total of an estate’s qualifying business and agricultural assets. Where the value of assets qualifying for the relief exceeds £2.5m, 50% Inheritance tax is available (i.e. the portion above the cap is taxed at 20% rather than the 40% rate that would apply to non-qualifying assets).
For married couples and civil partners, any unused allowance may be transferable, potentially increasing the available 100% Inheritance Tax relief to £5 million for an individual Lloyd’s vehicle, where the qualifying conditions are met. This makes Lloyd’s participation a potentially valuable planning tool for investors looking to preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
The investment case is also distinctive. Lloyd’s offers exposure to insurance and reinsurance risk, with performance driven by underwriting discipline, pricing cycles, catastrophe events and reserve development, rather than the same factors that drive equities, bonds or property. Even more, Lloyd’s performance has historically shown low correlation with other asset classes, making it a useful diversifier for family office and private client portfolios.
This diversification can be enhanced by the “double use” of assets. Investors may be able to pledge existing assets as collateral to support their NameCo or LLP’s Lloyd’s underwriting, while those assets continue to generate their own investment returns alongside potential underwriting returns. In this way, Lloyd’s can allow suitable investors to make existing capital work harder, provided they understand and accept the underwriting risk.
Recent market performance has reinforced investor interest. Lloyd’s reported a £10.6 billion profit before tax and a 22% return on capital for 2025. Argenta has also noted that its clients have achieved average annualised returns in excess of 17% over the 19 years to 2025, with returns on capital exceeding 20% in the past three years.
Lloyd’s is not risk-free. Underwriting losses can occur, capital can be tied up, and performance varies by syndicate, class of business, and market cycle. Argenta notes that the minimum investment at Lloyd’s is typically £1 million and that allocations should not exceed 15% of an investor’s net wealth.
For the right investor, however, Lloyd’s can be a compelling addition to a broader wealth strategy. It combines access to a specialist global insurance market, potential long-term returns, low correlation to traditional assets and a Business Relief profile that can support inheritance tax planning. Through carefully structured NameCos and LLPs, Argenta Private Capital helps investors consider how this distinctive asset class may fit within their wider investment, tax and succession objectives.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute tax, legal or investment advice. Investors should seek independent professional advice before investing.