Market Turns up in Numbers at the Lloyd’s Market Group Forum October 2015
Read the full Round-Up All the Way to the End and Claim Your Reward!
Tom of Tom and Jerry fame, Thomas Hearns the boxer, Tom Watson the golfer and a host of other Toms featured at the start of the latest LMG Forum, which opened in inimitable style on the 26th October.
In the week in which it was announced in a new report that combined IUA and Lloyd’s total company market income adds up an overall total for the London Market of £48.217bn, it was a timely moment for the great and the good of the London claims market to turn out in full force for the recent London Market Group Forum.
In a packed Willis Auditorium, Christopher Croft, LMG Secretariat, Colin O’Malley, PPL and Steve Pallett, CSRP delivered updates on London market reform and change. Proceedings kicked off with updates on the London market skills gap, London Matters and the Target Operating Model, the source, of course, of the Tom’s pictured at the start of the slideshow presentation.
The audience learnt that the LMG has engaged with Deloitte to launch a survey to help the market better understand where talent gaps lie in the market. The survey will look to identify where skills shortages are across the market in specific areas in the medium, long and short term.
The work is being led by Bob Stuchbery, chief executive of Chaucer, deputy chairman of the Lloyd’s Market Association and member of the LMG. The LMG is now in discussions with Deloitte on the best way to take the research forward.
Ground Control to Major TOM: Check Ignition?
With regards to TOM, it was reported that the discovery phase is now complete. The next step is to define the next level of detail of TOM to articulate the end-to-end solution and how it fits together. There will be a Market consultation and a conversation with a broad spectrum of vendors.
Colin O’Malley, delivering an update on the PPL, outlined the key challenges for the London Market, as follows
• Unique London Market requirements, causing barriers to entry
• How can London improve the ‘ease of doing’ business?
• High expense ratios, creating a price disadvantage
• Lack of presence in emerging markets
• Declining market share in reinsurance
Colin’s comments appear to be backed up by the introduction to the newly released London Company Market Statistics Report October 2015. Dave Matcham Chief Executive International Underwriting Association is quoted as follows:
“London is nearly double the size of the insurance market in Bermuda and more than ten times bigger than that in Singapore. But its share of global reinsurance business is declining and, in particular, it is not capitalising on emerging market opportunities. London Matters detailed how just 2 per cent of available premiums in Asia are currently picked up by the London Market.”
PPL the Backbone of TOM
O’Malley concluded his presentation to the LMG Forum with some key takeaways. He said:
“PPL is the backbone of the TOM, a single market system that will support face to face negotiation and reduce costs. The Platform’s success hinges on market adoption, and we are working closely with market practitioners and the three associations to ensure that they are engaged.
“We have learned the lessons from previous market-wide initiatives and are currently working on ensuring the right governance structures are in place from launch. This is a five year programme – starting with an initial roll-out for terrorism cover. As we build knowledge and experience of the platform in action, it will evolve to meet the changing needs of the market as it is rolled-out across all lines of business.”
Market Modernisation Agenda
Steve Pallett concluded the LMG Forum with a timely presentation on the Central Services Refresh Programme (CSRP) Post-bind Submission (PbS). The Central Services Refresh Programme (CSRP) is part of the overall Market Modernisation agenda and is part of the LMG’s plans for helping to secure London’s competitive position. It covers solutions for four of the nine high-level aspirations stated in the LMG Future Process report.
The key steps, according to Pallet, are:
Release 1: Enabling an Improved Submission Channel into Central Services
The intention is to continue to build towards Go-Live in 2016. Model Office Testing (Aon Benfield / Trace (Miller) has been successful so far.
Release 2: Making Central Services More Efficient
The Structured Data Capture (SDC) Proof of Concept has been Successful and a High Level Design is now being developed.
Release 3: An Online Portal for Brokers without Messaging Capability
A message went out to vendors interested in developing an Online Submission Portal while a Steering Group decision on next steps is imminent.
Name the TOMs
The London market audience went away satisfied that it had its fix of highly technical (re)insurance modernisation. The DOCOsoft reporter on the day was not so easily satisfied, however, being able to name only three of the Toms pictured in the slideshow http://bit.ly/1NPHMtt
If you can name the other three Toms, DOCOsoft has lined up a suitably exciting prize to the winner who will be able to collect their reward at the DOCOsoft Christmas Party on the 26th November!