42
September 2012 Bermuda Re/insurance
Dupplin suggested the market would be best served leveraging the capabilities of the brokers to access new business, rather than through new—and potentially costly—regional hubs. As he explained, “the pipelines of our business are really the brokers, and the best of these are very good at sourcing this business”. He said that they would act as perhaps the strongest conduit, inevitably choosing a market that they consider to “be efficient and full of strong players”. Lloyd’s happily fits that particular billing.
Hoshina, for his part, argued that Lloyd’s hubs could well attract company markets to new and emerging geographies, with firms carrying out underwriting in situ, rather than acting as a conduit. Regional hubs established by Lloyd’s could therefore act as beachheads for those wanting to diversify by geography. The regional hub approach therefore has the opportunity to act both as a conduit and a potential underwriting home for firms exploring emerging geographies. Boots on the ground in key emerging markets such as Asia and Latin America would certainly help drive a greater concentration of business to Lloyd’s, but could at the same time be the start of a local company market underwriting hub.
It remains to be seen whether reinsurers will follow in Lloyd’s
footsteps, but the opportunity to do so is evidently there. As Hoshina made clear, the “strongest characteristic of Lloyd’s is its worldwide licences” and the ability to leverage this capability— locally or through London—remains mightily attractive. Hoshina concluded that the hub approach will also help Lloyd’s identify opportunities in emerging markets and give the market the opportunity to pursue such business before others. Those with a Lloyd’s presence can hope to take advantage of this ability and the access it affords.
Integrity as strength
Further helping matters will be the strength of Lloyd’s reputation. A significant component of this reputation is the trust instilled by the prudent oversight provided by Tom Bolt’s office of performance management. Bolt “has been obliged to walk a fine line as his analysis can occasionally reveal items which can be difficult for the market to face up to,” said Harris. “Integrity is one of the key strengths of the market. Our industry has done a lousy job of managing capital through previous underwriting cycles and anything that helps to add a little more discipline to the underwriting process and places a bit more pressure on the weaker underwriting players in our space, is generally a good thing.”
Dupplin also approved of Bolt’s work, indicating that far from the proscriptive imposition of edicts, his office has taken a cooperative
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76