NameCo and SLP

A Name who joined Lloyd's in the 1980s, came through the crisis and paid up wants to keep underwriting without putting the house on the line. From the second half of the 1990s the market gives him two doors. The NameCo is a company set up for him alone, or for a few members of one family, which becomes a corporate member and takes over his capacity; the Name is the shareholder and risks only what the company holds. The SLP, a limited partnership under Scots law, plays on a peculiarity: in Scotland a partnership has legal personality while staying transparent for tax, so the Name, as limited partner, keeps personal taxation while capping his loss at his contribution. Conversion works only going forward. Years of account still open on the day of the change remain written on an unlimited basis until they close, and the Name stays exposed on them for two or three years. Transferring the capacity to the company is also a disposal for tax purposes, and the income changes character: the NameCo pays corporation tax, and the Name receives only dividends. Succession gets simpler too, since heirs inherit shares instead of an unlimited exposure that used to freeze the estates of Names for years. The cap is often thinner than it looks: when the Funds at Lloyd's take the form of a letter of credit secured on personal wealth, the Name stays committed up to that amount. Not to be confused with the corporate member in general, which can be an insurer's subsidiary, nor with the unlimited liability Name.