Key statistics include:
• The London Market remains the largest global (re)insurance hub. Predictions that its significance would diminish as business gravitated to regional centres has not been borne out, and the gap between London and the total amount written in Bermuda, Switzerland and Singapore has widened from $16bn in 2015 to $23bn in 2018.
• London’s share of the global commercial (re)insurance market has remained steady since 2010 at an average of 7.6%. Commercial insurance share has grown by 0.1 percentage point, while its share of global reinsurance has fallen by 1.7 percentage points.
• The size of the global specialty market has declined by -10% between 2010 and 2018. The London Market has grown its share despite pricing and profitability challenges over this period.
• North America replaces the UK and Ireland as the biggest source of income.
• London has continued to underperform in emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
Matthew Moore, Chair of the LMG said: “This report finds the London Market in good shape. Aggregate market share held steady, maintaining its dominance over other (re)insurance centres, attracting more US business than ever before and increasing its contribution to UK gross domestic product. Nevertheless, some of the underlying challenges from the first London Matters report in 2014 remain. Our share of reinsurance business is shrinking, our share in emerging markets remains small, we need to replace an ageing workforce and there is more work to do on closing the gender pay gap.
“However, the effects on market structure, products, processes and working practices caused by the COVID-19 crisis are likely to be profound and long-lasting. The (re)insurance industry’s support for the wider business community has never been more important. The current crisis shows that the market can support its trading partners and clients through the toughest of challenges, and the fact it is doing so today is in part down to its adoption of previous LMG initiatives. For example, electronic placement through PPL has meant that remote working has been possible and that contracts have been placed and renewed with legal certainty.
“Current circumstances mean we cannot lose momentum now. London Matters 2020 shows it is more important than ever to build a London Market that can continue to serve its clients whatever the circumstances they face.”
The report tracks the key data on the market including its overall size, the breakdown by class of business, geographical sources of risks and it's financial contribution. For the first time, it looks specifically at investment in the London Market, the contribution that claims make to the wider global economy and changes to the make-up of (re)insurers within the market.
London Matters 2020
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