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A.M.BestTV: Lloyd's North America President Hank Watkins: Syndicate Consolidation Creates Opportunity


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - MARCH 30, 2015 02:30 PM (EDT)
In this A.M.BestTV episode, Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd's North America, explains how consolidation among Lloyd's syndicates is not a threat to the world's oldest insurance market.

Watkins told A.M.BestTV that Lloyd's in the United States did very well in 2014, with growth of about 15% in excess and surplus.. "Lloyd's also grew 2.5% in reinsurance, which is a remarkable number given the environment we're all operating in," Watkins said. He contributes Lloyd's earning growth to an improving economy, and as a result, rising exposure bases, and new emerging risks that are requiring new coverages.

Watkins said that cyber risk is written by about 30 Lloyd's syndicates, and he said that Lloyd's is rapidly becoming one of the global experts in the area. "We're a big player," Watkins says. Watkins names autonomous vehicles and 3-D printing as other emerging risks.

In terms of consolidation, Watkins explains that there was at one time over 400 syndicates writing business in the Lloyd's market, and through the years, that's been consolidated down to less than 100. Watkins doesn't view consolidation specifically in the Lloyd's market as a threat. "It's part of the beauty of offering a marketplace, while one syndicate may be acquired there's additional capital in other interests coming in through a different door to maintain that breadth of opportunity that Lloyd's has to write coverage around the world," he said.

Click here to view the entire video program: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=watkins315 .

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