Some say the added reinsurance cushion will encourage more investment in Lloyd's, but Wendy Baker, president of Lloyd's America, doesn't expect any short-term impact. At a press dinner shortly after the deal was announced, Ms. Baker noted that Lloyd's hasn't exactly had a hard time attracting capital lately--and that, in fact, some capital had been turned away in the quest to write coverage responsibly.

The arrangement with National Indemnity is not a done deal, with regulatory approval pending. However, one can sense that Lloyd's has already turned a corner, and is ready to focus more vigorously on the market's biggest challengesmodernizing its paper-intensive culture, while leveraging the cost savings technology could provide.

They certainly have the right person in place as CEO to accomplish this, as Richard Ward--who came aboard in late April--has an electronic background in the energy futures market. (For Mr. Wards vision for Lloyds, see NU's Dec. 11 cover story.)

Meanwhile, in a series of speeches across the country, top Lloyd's officials have been warning the industry of the dangers of allowing the softening market to get out of control. Despite our current good fortune, Im going to make a strong case today that we are still standing near the edge of the cliff, said Julian James, Lloyds director of worldwide markets, at last month's annual meeting of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

He said that if insurers do not focus on underwriting performance rather than write for market share, make terms and conditions as important as price, and stick with lines they know and can price properly, the industry will drift back into the financial intensive care ward.

I think Mr. James, as usual, makes a lot of sense, but I wonder how clearly the rest of the industry will hear him in the stampede to chase marketshare as prices keeps dropping. It's always easier to walk the walk of underwriting discipline in a hard market.

How do you think the market will play out next year?