Lloyd's Posts $3.5B Profit for 2010
The British insurance market's CEO calls them "solid" results despite a year of significant claims from earthquakes and floods. He said new EU requirements for insurers on capital adequacy and risk management are an added challenge.
Lloyd's announced its 2010 profit was £2.2 billion, equivalent to $3.5 billion in U.S. dollars, with Chief Executive Richard Ward describing this as "'solid" results from a years of significant insurance claims, including major earthquakes in New Zealand and Chile and severe flooding in Australia.
Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd's, said those 2010 catastrophes and the disasters of 2011 demonstrate the "crucial role" insurance plays in helping communities rebuild.
Ward said 2011 has already been an "extraordinary" year of natural disasters, adding, "We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected, and we are working hard to make sure claims are dealt with swiftly so communities in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia can rebuild and recover." Another challenge in 2011 is Solvency II, new EU requirements for insurers on capital adequacy and risk management. Ward said he is confident Lloyd's is making good progress on Solvency II but is "increasingly concerned" about the requirements' cost and complexity. "We must make sure this one piece of regulation doesn't do lasting damage to our international competitiveness," he said, "either for Lloyd's or the industry more widely."
Lloyd's is a leading specialist insurance market, conducting business in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and a major insurer of new, unusual or complex risks.