City & Business: Name of the game

Lloyd's of London has attracted such a deluge of adverse publicity in recent years that you would have thought no- one would be interested in investing in it any longer, even on the limited liability basis now being proposed for new corporate capital. Far from it. Provided names agree at a crucial vote on Wednesday, there is up to pounds 1.5bn of new capital raised through more than 20 different funds waiting to pour in. I know it's hard to believe, but suddenly Lloyd's is being talked of as the hottest investment property in town, with returns of anything up to 26 per cent per annum being predicted for some of the funds. Some will live up to their predictions, some won't (see below). All depends on the quality of the underwriting capacity they manage to secure. My own favourite is Samuel Montagu's pounds 250m London Insurance Market Investment Trust (Limit). They have been at it longer than most, having used James Capel's insurance team to do the due diligence. The capacity they have secured is as a consequence second to none.