Lloyd’s of London chief wants traders in building to ‘get Monday back’
The Lloyd’s of London chief executive wants to “get Monday back” and see brokers and underwriters on the trading floor four days a week — in a push to ensure face-to-face trading continues to thrive following the Covid pandemic.
“The building is busy,” said John Neal, CEO of the specialist insurance market made up of about 400 firms and based in central London, at the publication of a full-year trading update on Wednesday.
“When other people are pulling out, that is the time to go in,” Hussain said. In the crucial turn-of-the-year policy renewals, the premiums it retains within its reinsurance business rose almost half year on year as it put more capital to work.
Hussain agreed that face-to-face trading at Lloyd’s had survived the pandemic threat. “There is much more electronic or email trading going on, but that is now complementing face to face.”
Hiscox’s London office is now “noisy” between Tuesday and Thursday, and Monday has been increasingly busy, mirrored by its presence at Lloyd’s, he said. “All our senior decision makers are in the room.”
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Ian Smith
