Lloyd’s risks irrelevance, harnessing new capital is key: CEO Neal
The Lloyd’s of London market needs to “reset the way in which insurance and reinsurance is transacted globally” according to its Chief Executive John Neal, who suggested yesterday that the way Lloyd’s has engaged with new capital is just one of its failings.....MUCH MORE
Speaking at the Marsh & McLennan Companies Rising Professionals’ Global Forum 2019 in London yesterday, Neal admitted that the Lloyd’s market is perhaps not fit for purpose in the current era of rapid technology driven innovation and even faster capital flows.
Neal was discussing the opportunity for the Lloyd’s market to embrace digital transformation, but his comments were as ever telling and highlight a CEO of Lloyd’s who recognises that the oldest insurance and reinsurance market in the world needs to tear down the barriers to participation, particularly for capital providers.
Evolution has to be on the agenda for Lloyd’s, Neal explained, as otherwise it risks driving itself into irrelevance.
“We’re facing quite challenging headwinds,” he explained. “Our products simply aren’t keeping up with the changing landscape of risks and we’re not harnessing all of the new capital that’s knocking on the door.”
That inability to harness the capital has been a failing of the Lloyd’s market at a time when investors around the world are keen to access insurance and reinsurance linked returns.
The fact Neal acknowledges this is key, as in the past it’s not been explicitly admitted that Lloyd’s has dropped the ball on its approaches to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market over recent years....
