Uncertain times present “great opportunities” for Lloyd’s Canada partners

“If we take a moment to examine the stage of the Canadian economy and the risk landscape, you quickly identify a number of factors such as inflation, rising interest rates, looming recession, supply chain disruptions, the impact of geopolitical conflicts, natural catastrophes, and even concerns regarding potential reinsurance capacity constraints, though the list is long,” Lipman said.

“It is no doubt a time of heightened uncertainty, certainly more so than we’ve experienced in recent history – many would say the current abundance of uncertainty presents a significant challenge, but times of uncertainty also present great opportunities for those bold enough to take on the challenges that happen.”

Lipman addressed insurance attendees on the back of 10 years of consecutive Canadian premium growth for Lloyd’s, with the market having experienced the largest compound annual growth rate over the past five years of any country for the corporation. Canada now represents Lloyd’s second largest international insurance market.

“The success of the partnership is also measured by other factors such as consistency and longevity, and that is why it is also important to note that sustainable underwriting results have not been sacrificed in order to achieve the growth numbers,” Lipman said.

“Lloyd’s ability to deliver consistent underwriting results in Canada means the partnership should remain both consistent and predictable.”

Lloyd’s syndicates and brokers will “continue to make investments in their knowledge and expertise regarding the Canadian marketplace and continue to bring increased risk capacity to Canada across multiple classes of business,” Lipman pledged.

Lloyd’s commercial director Patrick Tiernan highlighted the marketplace’s remediation gains and reflected on recent months that have seen an “economic and human cost” from manmade and nature driven events, including from Hurricanes Fiona and Ian, and the Ukraine conflict.

The chief of markets hailed the “superior underwriting and risk management capabilities” of Canada’s insurance market.

“Canada is number one when it comes to market penetration – Lloyd’s is the number one provider of commercial capacity to the Canadian market, and Canada is the second largest country for us in terms of premium volume after the US,” Tiernan said.

“But beyond the numbers, the bonds formed between generations of trading between coverholders MGAs, brokers and the Lloyd’s market are deeply treasured and covetously envied.”

The Ukraine war, inflationary impacts, ESG, and technology and talent were the subject of a panel discussion led by Lloyd’s commercial director Dawn Miller and featuring senior leaders from Aon, Howden, and Ascot.

“My passion point about our industry is the power of the collective to convene, to communicate and share and be transparent,” Miller said.

“We proved during COVID, as we opened up this conversation of what we can do, and we all have a common goal; we’ve identified protection gaps and needs, and we know that it’s pushing us forward and we know we can do it again.”