Polar Capital Global Insurance

There are few managers with a more intimate knowledge of their market than Nick Martin, the manager of Polar Capital Global Insurance. His many years of experience working in the risk and casualty insurance markets are fundamental to the success of this fund, which provides access to this specialist and often undervalued sector.

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Our Opinion
Fund Managers
Key Facts
Fund Performance
Risk
Company Description
Investment process
ESG

Our Opinion

Everything around us is insured, regardless of economic boom or bust, which provides this fund with very good defensive characteristics. Polar Capital Global Insurance is designed to provide exposure to non-life insurance companies, a specialist and often undervalued sector. The fund has been co-managed by Nick Martin since 2008 and he took on full responsibilities in 2016. The fund’s consistent track record offers a good return profile for portfolio diversification.

Fund Managers

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Fund Managers

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Nick Martin, Lead Manager Nick joined Polar Capital in September 2010 and is the fund manager of the Polar Capital Global Insurance Fund, which was previously known as the Hiscox Insurance Portfolio Fund. He has been involved with the fund since 2001, starting at Hiscox plc before participating in the management buyout that led to the creation of HIM Capital Ltd in 2007. Over his career, Nick has developed extensive knowledge of the insurance sector, beginning with his work at Mazars Neville Russell, where he specialized in audit and consultancy services for insurance companies and brokers.

Dominic Evans, Co-Manager Dominic joined Polar Capital as an investment analyst in October 2012 from KPMG and, since March 2022, is a fund manager on the Global Insurance Fund. Dominic previously worked as part of KPMG's insurance segment which he joined as a graduate trainee. At KPMG, he obtained broad experience working on a range of global insurance companies through roles within M&A and IPO due diligence, audit and markets. Prior to KPMG he worked for a year in corporate finance focusing on natural resource companies. He received a BA, 1st Class Hons, in History at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Nick Martin, Lead Manager Nick joined Polar Capital in September 2010 and is the fund manager of the Polar Capital Global Insurance Fund, which was previously known as the Hiscox Insurance Portfolio Fund. He has been involved with the fund since 2001, starting at Hiscox plc before participating in the management buyout that led to the creation of HIM Capital Ltd in 2007. Over his career, Nick has developed extensive knowledge of the insurance sector, beginning with his work at Mazars Neville Russell, where he specialized in audit and consultancy services for insurance companies and brokers.

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Dominic Evans, Co-Manager Dominic joined Polar Capital as an investment analyst in October 2012 from KPMG and, since March 2022, is a fund manager on the Global Insurance Fund. Dominic previously worked as part of KPMG's insurance segment which he joined as a graduate trainee. At KPMG, he obtained broad experience working on a range of global insurance companies through roles within M&A and IPO due diligence, audit and markets. Prior to KPMG he worked for a year in corporate finance focusing on natural resource companies. He received a BA, 1st Class Hons, in History at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

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Key Facts

Asset type Equity

Annual Income (Historic) -

Sector Financials and Financial Innovation

Gearing-

Fund Size-

Fund Manager Start Date 01 September 2001

Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) -

Payment Date(s) Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct

Annual Management Charge (AMC) -

Fund Performance

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Risk

This is a global equity fund but 60-80% of the portfolio is usually invested in US firms as the team believes they are typically better stewards of capital. The fund is predominantly invested in large companies but does have some mid and small-cap exposure. Although this is a specialist fund it is well diversified across the different types of insurance. It has historically been a bit less volatile than global equities.

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Risk: 7

Company Description

Founded in 2001, Polar Capital supports more than 12 investment teams that focus on a range of products. Its founding strategy of fostering an equity culture amongst its employees and providing high levels of transparency to clients means 30% of the firm’s equity is currently held by directors, founders and employees. Polar Capital is principally located in London and maintains offices in Tokyo, Connecticut, Jersey, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Paris. It was awarded the Elite Equities Provider Rating in 2019 and 2021.

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Fund Performance

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Risk

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This is a global equity fund but 60-80% of the portfolio is usually invested in US firms as the team believes they are typically better stewards of capital. The fund is predominantly invested in large companies but does have some mid and small-cap exposure. Although this is a specialist fund it is well diversified across the different types of insurance. It has historically been a bit less volatile than global equities.

Company Description

Close

Founded in 2001, Polar Capital supports more than 12 investment teams that focus on a range of products. Its founding strategy of fostering an equity culture amongst its employees and providing high levels of transparency to clients means 30% of the firm’s equity is currently held by directors, founders and employees. Polar Capital is principally located in London and maintains offices in Tokyo, Connecticut, Jersey, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Paris. It was awarded the Elite Equities Provider Rating in 2019 and 2021.

Quote from the Fund Manager

Management ownership of the companies in which we invest is crucial – as Warren Buffett says, no-one ever washes a rented car.

Nick Martin

Lead Manager

Investment process

The team's extensive knowledge of the insurance industry means it can analyse companies in-depth. It looks to invest in quality insurers that can produce sustainable underwriting profits. It’s very easy to grow in insurance - you just charge less. But the team avoids these sorts of businesses preferring dull, boring and experienced management teams. They like management teams who are underwriting with their own money through material stock ownership. Polar Capital Global Insurance is focused and typically invest in 30-35 companies. It rarely invests much in life assurers, instead preferring specialist non-life companies, and those in the casualty and risk sectors.

Risk

This is a global equity fund but 60-80% of the portfolio is usually invested in US firms as the team believes they are typically better stewards of capital. The fund is predominantly invested in large companies but does have some mid and small-cap exposure. Although this is a specialist fund it is well diversified across the different types of insurance. It has historically been a bit less volatile than global equities.

ESG

ESG - Integrated
Nick has a very systematic approach to integrating ESG with this specialist fund. He has a proprietary scoring system for quantifying over 20 ESG factors. This also highlights any major red flags for the company, which will deduct from the overall score. These scores look at a variety of factors, such as environmental impact and climate change mitigation, through to diversity, staff development and approaches to data security. It encompasses governance factors through studying remuneration policies, executive alignment and board compositions. All identified issues are factored into each potential stock idea to create a qualitative and quantitative judgement on their ESG score, which is then assessed in conjunction with other factors.

Related Insights

The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein (1) include the proprietary information of FundCalibre, (2) may not be copied or redistributed without prior permission, (3) do not constitute investment advice offered by FundCalibre, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a fund, and (5) are not warranted to be correct, complete, or accurate. FundCalibre shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, this information, data, analyses, or opinions or their use. The Elite Fund rating is subjective in nature and reflects FundCalibre’s current expectations of future events/behaviour as they relate to a particular fund. Because such events/behaviour may turn out to be different than expected, FundCalibre does not guarantee that a fund will perform in line with its FundCalibre benchmark. Likewise, the Elite Fund rating should not be seen as any sort of guarantee or assessment of the creditworthiness of a fund nor of its underlying securities and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. FundCalibre disclaims any responsibility for trading decisions, damages or other losses resulting from any use of the Elite Fund rating. All performance data, as well as fund size, OCF, AMC, annual income (historic), share price discount or premium, is sourced directly from FE Analytics, and will change periodically.