Have you registered for this week's Business Briefing?
Join Insurance Day on May 16 in Lloyd's to hear senior executives discuss the future of London
What will the London market look like in five or 10 years’ time?
The London market of the future – and not necessarily the too distant future – could well operate in a very different manner from the way it does now.
How will business be placed? To what extent will underwriting still be done face-to-face? What products and risks will be written in London? And how much of the London market will be physically present in EC3?
These are not merely academic considerations: these are issues that senior executives must be thinking about now as they plan for the future.
One broker chief executive told me recently his firm would soon be looking to agree a long-term lease on new premises in London. He would need to take a view on how many people his business would need in EC3 in the medium term.
This would be influenced by more traditional factors such as the firm’s growth strategy and the relative position of London in the global insurance market, but also factors such as how business models might develop and evolve. Fewer people – at least in London – may be needed to process more business, the chief executive said.
The drive to digitalisation is already gathering pace. The market is arguably closer to an electronic trading revolution than it ever has been.
Meanwhile, the rapid advancement in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart contracts could have a more fundamental impact on the nature of the market.
It will affect how risks are bound, intermediated and even the role of humans in the insurance value chain.
Insurance Day has brought together some of the industry’s leading thinkers to explore the future of the London market. Join us for a thought-provoking debate on May 16 at 2.30 pm in the Lloyd’s Old Library.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Matthew Fosh, executive chairman for Europe, Axis Capital;
- Steve Hearn, chief executive officer, Ed; and
- Richard Dudley, chief executive officer for Aon Risk Solutions’ Global Broking Centre in London.
To find out more about the Business Briefing “Facing the future” and to register your attendance click here.