Beating the drum for London
A year after taking on the role, Christopher Beazley, CEO of the London Market Group (LMG), talks to Hiscox Global Insight.
Tell us more about the 'Telling the London Market Story' campaign recently launched by the London Market Group
The idea is to help answer the "why London?" question for our existing and potential clients. We're looking to articulate what it is that London makes possible. Ships don't leave port and planes don't take off without the London Market – London writes 60% of the global aviation premium. Also, the hurricanes in the past few months have really shown what we do to help get clients back on their feet.
We also want to energise the London Market community of 52,000 and reinvigorate their sense of pride in where they work, while uniting us all behind a common set of words about why clients need to come to London. Many of the people working here in the market are visiting and speaking to clients and potential clients every day – that has to be the most effective means of getting our message out there.
What progress is being made in the other work streams set out by the LMG?
In the modernisation stream, we've made some great progress, including reducing our coverholders’ audits to one or two a year. Overall, the number of audits has reduced by 1500 a year. We have also rolled out PPL – the London Market’s electronic placing platform – for three lines of business, binding over 10,000 risks through the platform in the past 12 months. A new version of PPL was released in early October and I expect to see a material uptick in the number of users.
Ships don't leave port and planes don't take off without the London Market – London writes 60% of the global aviation premium.
In terms of talent, we launched London Insurance Life earlier this year to illustrate the wonderful careers available in this market. Based around an Instagram campaign, London Insurance Life profiles people who work in the market, how they found their way here, what it is they do and their views of it as a place to work. It highlights the real diversity of roles in the market. We also have 55 London Insurance Life Ambassadors attending careers fairs at schools and universities, and sharing their views on what a great place the London Market is to work.
For the business environment, we published a Brexit roadmap in March and have set up a taskforce – including 20 participants from right across the market – to work with the government on what it is the London Market wants to see out of the Brexit negotiations.
The government has also now published its ILS framework, and the regulations have been laid before Parliament. We anticipate the framework, which will allow London to host ILS vehicles, will come into force before 2018.
The last London Matters revealed that London’s premium income from reinsurance and emerging declined between 2013 and 2015. What can be done to arrest this decline?
All four of the LMG's work streams speak to how we can arrest that decline while acknowledging the challenging conditions. Take emerging markets, for example. If people don't know what the London Market does then they're not going to come to us for their risk and insurance needs, so we need to be out there telling that story. We also need people working here that understand regional and local cultures, and speak the languages. On the modernisation programme, we have to make sure we are as efficient as possible if we are going to attract future business here.
Diversity was also shown to be an issue, particularly for female directors. Do you see any encouraging signs?
I see diversity as a very broad spectrum. Gender, nationality and ethnicity are all key, but we also need to look at whether we have the diversity of skills. Do we have the diversity of mindset? Do we have people who are open to change, will challenge how we do business and are open to doing things differently?
Talking to LMG members, I see diversity as an absolute priority at board level. There is some great work going on, such as the Dive-In festival, which was well attended with great speakers. There is still a long way to go and we need to continue focusing on tangible actions. There are some good initiatives around the market, which I think should be showcased and shared, but I think there’s also plenty we could learn from other industries, such as banking.
I see diversity as a very broad spectrum. Gender, nationality and ethnicity are all key, but we also need to look at whether we have the diversity of skills. Do we have the diversity of mindset? Do we have people who are open to change, will challenge how we do business and are open to doing things differently?
Have you had the support for change you would hope for from the wider London Market?
We have a full time team of six and a board of 18 people. Everything that we at the LMG do is achieved through the team but with the support of a huge number of people from the market: the sponsors or members of the steering groups, or the market associations, or others from the 350 businesses who support us. I don't know of any other market or industry that comes together for the good of the market in the way that we do in London.
What progress would you hope to have seen a year from now?
In January I was in New York talking to a RIMS symposium of 20 or so risk managers, as part of the research we've been doing into the London Market brand work. If, in a year's time, I spoke to those same risk managers again and heard consistent messages as to why they should be coming to London, I think that would be really positive.
The ILS framework will be in place by then and it will be great to see some of the innovative ways that people have used that to bring additional business to London and create new products. Also, PPL will have been rolled out across all classes, and we will have made significant progress to a world where paper is no longer seen as an acceptable way to do business.
London is bigger than the next three insurance hubs combined [in terms of GWP], we have an incredible foundation, breadth of expertise, and a great history. We’re in a fantastic position.
How have you personally found the challenge since taking up the CEO role?
The Brexit referendum happened during the recruitment process for this role, which made me pause. But, after reflecting on it for a couple of days, I decided it reinforced how important it was for the London Market to come together with one voice. I didn't see this job as a risk for me personally but as a great opportunity to be a part of a really successful market.
London is bigger than the next three insurance hubs combined [in terms of GWP], we have an incredible foundation, breadth of expertise, and a great history. We’re in a fantastic position. To help confront some of the challenges we face and help articulate the positives is a challenge that has really resonated with me. I find the London Market is an easy thing to get passionate about. The fact people are willing to give their time and energy indicates there is a lot of support for what we're doing.
