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Red Sands Insurance Group
Red Sands Insurance Group was established in 2003 in Gibraltar, a jurisdiction known for its single European insurance passport. The group is ultimately...
Red Sands Insurance Group
Red Sands Insurance Group was established in 2003 in Gibraltar, a jurisdiction known for its single European insurance passport. The group is ultimately controlled by the Jaap t'Hooft Trust, connecting it to a broader family insurance legacy that includes Lombard Insurance Group in South Africa. It operates through two licensed Gibraltar carriers: Red Sands Insurance Company and Red Sands Life Assurance Company. The firm writes a focused mix of personal and specialty lines, with a notable concentration in pet insurance — an area deepened through a joint venture with JAB Holding's Pinnacle Pet Group. Home and contents, motor, travel, and equine policies round out the primary underwriting portfolio. The group also pursues strategic partnerships to expand its capacity, working alongside entities such as Correlation Risk Partners to access alternative risk transfer structures. The t'Hooft family influence anchors the firm's governance, with the Guernsey-domiciled Cert. Holdings Limited (formerly Manzillo Holdings Limited) serving as the ultimate parent. Group Chairman Shaun Cawdery maintains a public-profile role beyond the firm, chairing the Gibraltar Finance Centre Council, which reinforces Red Sands' embedded position in the territory's financial infrastructure. The company operates from the Ocean Village Business Centre, and is a member of the Association of British Insurers and the Gibraltar Insurance Association. Red Sands functions less as a massive balance-sheet insurer and more as a specialized, jurisdictionally advantaged underwriting platform. Its structure pairs a family-owned holding company with a regulatory home inside Gibraltar's EU-aligned framework, enabling passporting into continental European markets. The firm layers on partnerships — with JAB Holding, Correlation Risk Partners, and others — rather than building everything organically, making it a hybrid of a family insurance legacy and a partnership-driven specialty writer.
General information
Firm type
Insurance
Year founded
2003
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Gibraltar
City
Gibraltar
Corporate office
Ocean Village Promenade, Gibraltar
Principals
Shaun Cawdery
Group Chairman
Jaap t'Hooft
Founder (via Jaap t'Hooft Trust)
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who controls Red Sands Insurance Group?
The Jaap t'Hooft Trust is the ultimate controlling party of Red Sands Insurance Group. The trust links the firm to the t'Hooft family, which also founded Lombard Insurance Group in South Africa. The ultimate parent company is the Guernsey-domiciled Cert. Holdings Limited (formerly Manzillo Holdings Limited).
How does Red Sands structure its pet insurance business?
Red Sands deepened its pet insurance presence through a joint venture with Pinnacle Pet Group, a portfolio company of JAB Holding. This partnership structure allows the firm to combine its Gibraltar-based underwriting licenses with JAB's global platform capabilities. The group otherwise writes pet cover directly through its own carriers.
What is Red Sands' relationship with Lombard Insurance?
Lombard Insurance Group, founded by the t'Hooft family in South Africa, serves as a strategic partner to Red Sands. The two groups share common ultimate control through the Jaap t'Hooft Trust, though they operate as separate entities governed in different jurisdictions — Lombard from South Africa, and Red Sands from Gibraltar.
How does the firm use its Gibraltar license?
Gibraltar's single European insurance passport historically allowed Red Sands to underwrite risks across EU and EEA member states from one regulatory base. The group conducts its operations from the Ocean Village Business Centre in Gibraltar, falling under the supervision of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.
Who represents Red Sands in Gibraltar's financial governance?
Group Chairman Shaun Cawdery serves as Chairman of the Gibraltar Finance Centre Council, a body that promotes and coordinates the territory's financial services sector. His role places Red Sands directly inside the policymaking and promotional infrastructure of its home jurisdiction.
What strategic partnerships does Red Sands maintain?
Beyond its Pinnacle Pet Group joint venture for pet insurance, Red Sands works with Correlation Risk Partners, described as a strategic investment and partnership arm associated with the group. The firm also maintains a connection with Lombard Insurance in South Africa, sharing common family ownership.
Which underwriting entities make up the group?
Red Sands Insurance Group operates through two licensed Gibraltar carriers: Red Sands Insurance Company, which writes general insurance lines, and Red Sands Life Assurance Company. Both entities are fully owned subsidiaries of the Guernsey-based holding structure.
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