About Us | Colonnade Insurance S.A.

Colonnade Insurance S.A.

Colonnade Insurance S.A. (“Colonnade”) received a non-life insurance licence from Luxembourg’s Minister for Finance on 24 July 2015. We are authorised to underwrite risks falling under 17 of the 18 EU statutory classes of non-life insurance (the exception being Class 10 – Motor Vehicle Liability) Our Regulator is the Commissariat aux Assurances (“CAA”) in Luxembourg. Branches of Colonnade have now been established in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

Colonnade was established to “house” the businesses acquired by Fairfax from QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited ("QBE"), a UK regulated insurance company, which were constituted as branches in each of Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Colonnade has commenced underwriting activities in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 2016.

In October 2016, Fairfax entered into an agreement with American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) to acquire the renewal rights of AIG’s portfolio of local business written by its subsidiary AIG Europe Limited in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland (the “AIG Business”). It is intended that this business will be written by Colonnade, who also assumes AIG's operating assets and employees. Under the agreement, Colonnade will carry out the claims handling and administration of the AIG business written by AIG historically on behalf of AIG.

Colonnade Insurance S.A. branches

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (“Fairfax”) is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management. Fairfax’s corporate objective is to achieve a high rate of return on invested capital and build long-term shareholder value. Fairfax seeks to differentiate itself by combining disciplined underwriting with the investment of its assets on a total return basis, which Fairfax believes provides above-average returns over the long-term.
Fairfax was founded in 1985 by the present Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, V. Prem Watsa. The company has been under present management since 1985 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Its common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol FFH and in U.S. dollars under the symbol FFH.U.
Fairfax’s insurance and reinsurance companies operate on a decentralized basis, with autonomous management teams applying a focused underwriting strategy to their markets. Fairfax subsidiaries provide a full range of property and casualty products, maintaining a diversified portfolio of risks across all classes of business, geographic regions, and types of insureds.
Since 1985, investments have been centrally managed for all of the Fairfax group companies by Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. (www.hwic.ca), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax. Hamblin Watsa emphasizes a conservative value investment philosophy, seeking to invest assets on a total return basis, which includes realized and unrealized gains over the long-term.

More details on Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited can be found on www.fairfax.ca.