Special Ep John Neal CEO Lloyd’s: I’d love to be underwriting today

Today’s guest is John Neal CEO of Lloyd’s, back on the show after
an absence of more than two years. Back then he described an
ambition to put the Lloyd’s halo back in place. Well, two full
years of underwriting profitability later and the market has
regained a huge amount of its cachet and prestige and begun to
reap the rewards of its painful remediation process. But this
podcast is as far as you can imagine from a triumphal romp
through the market’s considerable achievements of the past couple
of years. It’s about the here and now of this still-transitioning
market and the major opportunities it is throwing up for Lloyd’s
underwriters. It’s also about a culture change on one Lime
Street. Engaging positively with and backing smart businesses
with good ideas and being more principles rather than
rules-based, while at the same time remaining hyper-vigilant on
any backsliding on hard-won improvements in rate and terms and
conditions. And it’s about delivery and leadership – delivery on
tech reform and leadership on the big calls around systemic risk
and on the massive challenges and opportunities being thrown up
by ESG and the transition to net zero We even make time to talk
about the culture and work environment of the London Market in
the post pandemic world. I’ll stop myself there because there’s a
danger that these intros become just a shopping list of the
topics we address. Take my word for it, we talk about literally
everything on the global insurance and reinsurance agenda today
and nothing is off limits. But ultimately this is a great
opportunity to spend 45 minutes in a very relaxed and intimate
conversation with a leader of a very important segment of our
global insurance ecosystem. As you’d expect, he’s in great form
and it’s clear to me that he is growing in confidence. The
confidence and conviction was there before, but there’s nothing
like good results to add positive reinforcement. Here is someone
who is getting through to the market and clearly feels he is
going to be able to carry the market along with him to face the
challenges of the future – and do so from a position of relative
strength. We haven’t had a Lloyd’s CEO in this sort of position
for at least a couple of decades – and that’s why what he says
here has more meaning than in the past. The fact is that because
of the credible delivery of the objectives of the first phase of
his tenure, John’s thoughts about what comes next carry more
weight than before. And that’s why I highly recommend a detailed
listen.