Lloyd’s should focus on US, not emerging markets, says new LMA chair

Lloyd’s of London should spend more time focusing on the US and less time trying to grow in fast-emerging economies, Andrew Brooks,  incoming chair of the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA), according to the Financial Times.

Over the past few years, Lloyd’s has opened new offices in Mexico City, Bogotá, Dubai, Casablanca and Mumbai in an effort to win more business, the FT noted in a January 13 article.

But Brooks reportedly said Lloyd’s should be making bigger efforts in the US. “By focusing on those developing countries so heavily, we’ve lost traction in our key market of North America,” he reportedly said. The US is the world’s biggest insurance market and North America is already the source of half of Lloyd’s premiums, the FT noted.

Brooks believes that there is scope for more business in the US through innovation. “If we can work on new technology and really spend time developing products for North America, that would be great. Then you can see how the strategy can be used in Asia,” he reportedly said.

Brooks suggested that the policy of opening new offices in emerging markets might have gone too far. “Getting licences in new markets is important but you don’t necessarily need a physical presence,” he said, adding that it was difficult for the sort of specialist cover sold at Lloyd’s to penetrate markets where insurance buying was still in its infancy.

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