Lloyd’s of London, a leading global insurance and reinsurance marketplace, has confirmed it is considering outsourcing certain information technology services and operational functions, according to BestWire. A company stated that this potential change aims to support long-term sustainability.
The outsourcing plans will not impact the services provided to the market. Lloyd’s will maintain responsibility for operational resilience and continue to oversee and govern the outsourced services.
Accenture has been appointed to manage the IT services transition and offer transformation support, starting April 1.
Lloyd’s has not shared details on the timeline for completing the transition or its effect on staff numbers. Efforts to get further comments from Accenture were unsuccessful.
Alongside these operational shifts, Lloyd’s is updating its approach to managing financial and nonfinancial misconduct. The new framework aims to align better with the human resources and disciplinary practices of its partners, as reported on September 12, 2024.
Lloyd’s plans to update its framework for for dealing with poor conduct & behaviors, addressing both financial and nonfinancial issues in the market.
The revised system aims to better align with partner firms’ HR and disciplinary procedures while maintaining support for their independent investigations and actions.
A market bulletin outlines these changes. Lloyd’s also intends to clarify unacceptable behaviors and define when it will intervene, increasing focus on oversight and intervention.
The market seeks to streamline its decision-making processes, as detailed in a consultation report linked to the bulletin.
Lloyd’s also reported a 25.6% increase in pretax profits for the 1H 2024, reaching £4.9 bn. CEO John Neal attributed this to disciplined underwriting and a period of below-average major losses. The combined ratio improved to 83.7 from 85.2 in the same period last year.
Efforts to boost performance and lower operational costs led to a 1.7% reduction in the attritional loss ratio to 49.2%, while the expense ratio dropped to 34.5%, down from 35.4% in 2023.
Lloyd’s central solvency ratio strengthened to 520%, up from 503% at the end of 2023, with a market-wide solvency ratio of 206%, highlighting strong capital management.
Lloyd’s financial strength was affirmed by AM Best’s upgrade of its rating to A+ (superior), with a long-term issuer credit rating increase to AA- (superior) and a stable outlook.
