Lloyd's aggregated market results for 2018 show slight improvement

Lloyd's reported an aggregated market loss of $1.3 billion in 2018, close to half the aggregated market loss in 2017.

“We have implemented stronger performance management measures which will remain an enduring featuring of how we go about our business,” Lloyd’s CEO John Neal said in a press release. (Photo: The Associated Press/Alastair Grant)

Despite investment uncertainty and a year riddled with costly natural catastrophes, Lloyd’s reported an aggregated market loss of $1.3 billion in 2018, close to half the aggregated market loss in 2017.

Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoon Jebi in Japan and wildfires in California led to major claims, costing Lloyd’s market $3.9 billion, which contributed to a combined ratio of 104.5% in 2018. Despite this, its total assets grew by 9% to $149.9 billion, its net resources increased by 2% to $35.8 billion and its central assets also saw growth of 8% to $4.1 billion.

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Areas of improvement

At a time of global uncertainty and challenging market conditions, Lloyd’s 2018 aggregated results showed areas of improvement. After several years of rate softening, the pricing environment saw strengthening by 3.2% on renewal business and the beginning of improvement in the attritional loss ratio, which reduced 1.3% on the previous year.

“The market’s aggregated 2018 results report a combined ratio of 104.5%, and a £1.0 billion loss. This performance is not of the standard that we would expect of a market that has both the heritage and quality of Lloyd’s,” Lloyd’s CEO John Neal said in a press release. “We have implemented stronger performance management measures which will remain an enduring featuring of how we go about our business. We expect these actions to deliver progressive performance improvement across the market beginning in 2019 and in the years to come.”

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