Dear friend,
Before I joined the good ship InsuranceERM I was based in the dark, gossipy environs of EC3, where as a journalist one was never too far away from a suitably loose tongue or indiscreet comment.
Back in the day, of course, a lot of that gossip would have concerned the steadiness of Lloyd's itself. Battered by horrific asbestos claims and filled with some syndicates that should never have been within a 100 miles of Lime St, it seemed that Lloyd's was in need of urgent repair.
Re/insurance capital in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina in the main wanted to set up shop in Bermuda, while Lloyd's own capacity levels flat-lined. Lime Street was seen by some as too inefficient, while the lingering shadow of Equitas meant that its solvency was still an issue. Despite the good work of Reconstruction & Renewal, one could never be entirely sure that the market was in a fit and proper state to survive the contemporary age.
Well, well. Over the past few years Lloyd's has proved the doubters wrong - and how. Capacity has surged to some £26bn ($45bn), while most commentators are agreed that its preparedness for Solvency II is second to none. And those rogue syndicates of old, that used to be a regular drain on the central fund, are now by and large nothing but bad memories, thanks in no small part to the oversight of the performance management directorate.
One of the key figures in helping Lloyd's reform and reinvigorate itself has been Luke Savage, its director of finance and operations whom we profile this week. Widely regarded as one of the market's most astute operators, his move to Standard Life is a huge loss to Lime Street. Will he be able to replicate his success in the current choppy waters of the UK life insurance market in his new role? Seems he is one for a challenge.
Marcus Alcock,
Editor, InsuranceERM