As part of the transition underway following the launch of the Future at Lloyd’s Blueprint One, the insurance marketplace has announced key governance appointments, along with confirmation of raising £300 million of senior debt to fund the transformation.

In preparation for a series of phased deliveries beginning in 2020, Lloyd’s has focused on establishing a robust governance, oversight and funding framework to ensure on-time, on-budget execution of the solutions announced in Blueprint One.

This includes a newly-formed technology and transformation committee, overseen by Lloyd’s board and council. Andy Haste, Lloyd’s deputy chairman, will chair the committee, whose members bring a wealth of experience in large-scale digital transformation. Programme delivery will be led by Jennifer Rigby, Lloyd’s chief operations officer and executive committee member.

Key roles continue to be filled at pace, with more than 80 corporation and market employees now engaged across the various workstreams. Strategic partners are being onboarded during the first quarter of 2020 to support the phased delivery and implementation.

To ensure funding is available to meet the near and medium-term cash requirements of the Future at Lloyd’s, the corporation has taken advantage of the low interest rate environment and secured £300 million of senior debt, thereby avoiding any increase in market levies.

The delivery of the Future at Lloyd’s is being run on an ‘agile’ basis, with the funding for each quarter being dependent on the execution of the planned deliverables. In February, Lloyd’s will publish Blueprint 1a, which will set out the detailed plans and deliverables for Phase 1 implementation.

John Neal, Lloyd’s chief executive officer, said: “Since the launch of Blueprint One, we have focused on designing a carefully structured and managed approach to planning and execution to allow regular delivery of value to the market.

"With robust governance and oversight now in place, and the funds for delivery secured, we have every confidence in the successful delivery of the Future at Lloyd’s.”

Meanwhile, IT consulting firm NTT DATA UK surveyed 100 individuals from a range of London Markets brokers, managing agents and syndicates and found the majority (78 per cent) have a vision and digital strategy that is well communicated across the business.

However, executing on the strategy is difficult, with nearly half (43 per cent) of those questioned felt they were falling behind the competition.

While half stated they are up-to-date in the adoption of the latest technology and processes in their industry, many are concerned by emerging competition: 63 per cent identified that new entrants are more agile due to their technology, while 69 per cent also confirmed that if they do not invest they will be left behind.

Kim Gray, head of insurance and head of diversity and inclusion at NTT DATA UK said: “The London speciality insurance market is the leading global hub for insurance and reinsurance, but that enviable position is under serious threat from other hubs and tech start-ups with a much lower cost base.

"They are smaller and more agile, making them better able to embrace technological change, and the resulting step-change, in improved customer service that smart new digital systems promise.”

The challenges in execution include legacy technology (53 per cent), inconsistent data (66 per cent) and a lack of understanding on how to use that technology to an advantage (48 per cent). Additionally, two thirds identified their change functions and personnel lacked empowerment and were unable to push through the change required for success.

Share Story: