Beazley CEO Urges Lloyd’s of London to Revamp Data Systems

July 24, 2015

Beazley Plc Chief Executive Officer Andrew Horton called on Lloyd’s of London to overhaul the way it manages trade information to make the world’s oldest insurance market more efficient and globally competitive.

“The transfer of data in the market has got to become more automated,” Horton, 53, said in a telephone interview Friday. “What Lloyd’s needs to do, with brokers’ support, is to improve that data flow. That will make the market much more efficient and open to other brokers.”

Lloyd’s CEO Inga Beale warned in June that the 327-year-old market must respond to new industries such as genetic engineering and nanotechnology. Lloyd’s offered the world’s first motor insurance, and it must continue to cover any emerging risks, she said.

Brokers are still an essential part of Lloyd’s, especially with any large-scale deal, Horton said. Identifying which Wal- Mart Stores Inc. properties in the U.S. are vulnerable to earthquakes or hurricanes would be good example, he said.

“At the large-risk end, I think the face-to-face trading will continue,” Horton said. “But if we take a 3 percent share of a risk and 10 other insurers do the same, all of us will then key the data into our systems, and that makes no sense whatsoever.”

An official for Lloyd’s wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Beazley climbed to a record on Friday after reporting an increase in first-half profit as the Dublin-based insurer targets as much as 20 percent growth in the U.S., rallying to their highest point since November 2002.