New Lloyd’s CEO John Neal officially took the reins of the specialist insurance and reinsurance market on Oct. 15.

Neal, a 30-year insurance industry veteran, was most recently group CEO of QBE Insurance Group. He succeeds Inga Beale, who announced in June 2018 that she would step down after leading the market for five years.

Lloyd’s Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said in prepared remarks that Neal is joining the entity at an important time, with a focus, in part, on “improving the market’s underlying performance.”

Neal, in prepared remarks, said it will be important to “focus on maintaining the market’s reputation for innovation” but also accelerate “efforts to modernize the ways in which we do business and take the time to listen to all of our stakeholders, who are critical to the future well-being of the Lloyd’s market.”