24th Feb 2026 11:03
(Alliance News) - BP Marsh & Partners PLC on Tuesday said its portfolio had performed well despite an annual decrease in funds, and noted a "broadly stable" insurance market.
The London-based investor in early-stage financial services businesses said its portfolio, in the year ended January 31, produced a "continued strong performance delivering increased returns to shareholders".
BP Marsh said group funds totalled GBP49.5 million as of January 31, down from GBP52.6 million on July 31 and from GBP74.1 million at the end of January last year.
It said it remains debt-free, and that it achieved realisations of GBP30.7 million in respect of its disposals during the year of its investments in Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting Ltd and Sterling Insurance Pty Ltd. BP Marsh delivered an 89.9% internal rate of return from SSRU and of 8.8% from Sterling.
BP Marsh said that during the year, it also invested GBP37.8 million of equity funding into its portfolio. Of this, GBP27.8 million comprised eight new investments, including subscriptions of GBP10.0 million each in iO Finance Partners Topco Ltd and in Oneglobal Broking Holdings Ltd, and a GBP5.3 million investment in Sodalis Capital Ltd. It also increased its stake in Pantheon Specialty Group Ltd from 37% to 39% for GBP5.5 million.
The company paid GBP8.0 million total in dividends during the year, up from GBP4.0 million the previous year, and has announced an interim and special dividend worth GBP10.5 million in total for the current financial year. It said it intends to pay a GBP2.5 million final dividend, bringing the financial 2027 total to GBP13.0 million, and to pay dividends worth at least GBP5.0 million in financial 2028.
Also looking ahead, BP Marsh said it continues to see strong levels of inbound interest, having received 67 new business enquiries in financial 2026, and that it is currently assessing nine prospective opportunities.
As for the wider insurance market, BP Marsh noted "Downward pressure on reinsurance pricing and heightened consolidation", but said that overall profitability within insurance distribution remains broadly stable.
"Consolidation across the insurance market appears to be accelerating into 2026," BP Marsh added.
BP Marsh shares were up 1.8% at 681.92 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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