Lloyd’s Names increase capacity for 2004

Private capital in the Lloyd’s market (also known as “Names”) rose to 3.3 billion pounds (Cdn$8.0 billion) for 2004, from 3.0 billion pounds (Cdn$7.3 billion) last year. This means the total market capacity of Names will rise to 22% from 20%, according to the Association of Lloyd’s Members, which represents private capital in the 300-year-old insurance market.ALM also notes that average capital for each member has grown to $1.02 million pounds (Cdn$2.5 million), up from 951,000 pounds (Cdn$2.31 million) last year.”The current profitability of Lloyd’s will enable Names to recover some of the heavy losses they have suffered in the past,” says ALM chairman Michael Deeny. “They are encouraged by the important changes being made at Lloyd’s, which should improve its ability to manage future challenges.”Initially Names had voiced concern over Lloyd’s reforms, seeing the changes as an attempt to get rid of private capital at the expense of corporate capital. However, under its new annual accounting methods, Lloyd’s posted a profit of 834 million pounds (Cdn$2.03 billion) in 2002. Overall, Lloyd’s capacity for 2004 stands at 14.4 billion pounds (Cdn$35 billion), having grown by 50% over the last five years.