1. The London Market controls $91 billion of annual premiums
The London Market controls $91 billion of annual premiums. It is larger than the next three insurance centres combined. It is a true subscription market, which enables some the world’s largest and most complex risks to be seamlessly shared across many insurance businesses.
It also drives This unique eco-system delivers product innovation, expertise that is not available to the same degree elsewhere and offers a deeper, broader risk appetite than any other marketplace in the world. All of this drives competitive solutions for clients around the world.
The London Matters 2017 report which tracks the market’s position saw several positive trends that reaffirm our traditional strengths,
with London:
increasing its commercial insurance premiums in line with global market growth;
reinforcing its position in established markets such as North America and the UK with a rise in premiums;
gaining share in its traditional heartlands of speciality risk classes; and
demonstrating its ability to innovate, with significant growth in premium from cyber insurance.

2. THE LONDON MARKET AT A GLANCE
As the biggest global commercial and speciality risk market in the world, London can offer protection for some of the world's largest risks. It underwrites the largest marine reinsurance contract - protecting 90% of the world's shipping fleet from liability risks. It also insures some of the world's tallest buildings and more than half of the top 50 architectural and engineering design firms in the USA are insured in London. Most of the offshore wind farms around the globe are insured in the market as are many of the world’s largest financial institutions.
London has a track record of being able to handle complex risk. This deep expertise has made it the leading insurance market for aviation and energy with 60% and 52% global market share respectively.

3. WHAT BUSINESS DOES THE LONDON MARKET WRITE?
PROPERTY CASUALTY REINSURANCE ENERGY MARINE AVIATION MOTOR OTHER
(TREATY & FACULATATIVE)
Commercial insurance provides a key underpinning for any market economy. Without insurance many public and private investments would be too risky to carry out and companies would be required to carry substantially more capital. 94 of 100 companies in the FTSE100 index and 100% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average companies are insured within the London Market. Insurance placements in the London market also enable significant infrastructure investments around the world, delivering real social impact and increased economic prosperity. Our unrivalled breadth of expertise means that London can insure the widest range of risk, from the smallest to the largest, and from the most standard to the most specialist and complex.

4. WHY LONDON?
The London Market has a rich heritage going back to the seventeenth century when London merchants began exploring trade with the East Indies, the New World, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. London developed into the leading international trade centre, with its growth underpinned by the development of an insurance industry that shared out the risk of individual trading adventures.
Without the London Market’s willingness to insure it, a great deal of progress across the globe would have been impossible. Today, in a world of unprecedented change and opportunity, London’s insurance market is more essential than ever.
Our dynamic eco-system, genuine specialty expertise,data driven insights and deep reserves of capital make us better equipped to manage complex and challenging risks. And better prepared to help our clients - from individuals to global businesses - get back on their feet when disaster strikes. So, whatever you want to achieve, wherever you want to go, and whatever challenges lie ahead, London makes it possible.

5. WE HAVE A UNIQUE FORMULA FOR RISK BREADTH OF EXPERTISE
DEPTH OF RESOURCE
UNIQUE ECO-SYSTEM
MANAGING EMERGING RISK
From its beginnings in the maritime industries, over time London started to write an ever-increasing variety of risks, in particular risks with a high severity and low frequency such as natural catastrophes. Today, this ability is based on four key components:
Breadth of expertise – London’s unrivalled breadth of expertise means that it can insure the widest range of risk, from the most standard to the most specialist and complex.
Depth of resource – the London Market benefits from its set-up as a subscription market, where more than one carrier takes a share of the same risk, letting risk carriers efficiently diversify their risks and giving companies access to a deeper pool of capital, and from the global reach of London Market brokers.
This unrivalled volume, security and flexibility of capital gives us the resilience to take on and pay out on larger scale risks, in any market condition.
Unique eco-system – the square mile of the City of London contains the highest concentration of talent in the world, including underwriting, distribution, broking, loss adjusting, law and claims management firms to name a few. This enables efficient interaction and rapid decision-making, on even the most complex of risks and is underpinned by a stable legal and regulatory environment.
Managing emerging risk - our appetite for challenge and track record in leading new product development – make us able to respond quickly and flexibly to new risks and placement needs.

6. HELPING THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE
52,000 people work in the London market and that breadth of expertise means creative solutions to existing and emerging risk transfer problems – both in traditional industries but also in newer, fast growing economies and technologies
A more energy efficient future is being aided by insurance. Solar power grew by 50% in 2016 and the London Market is insuring industrial scale applications of solar energy as more and more industries cut their reliance on fossil fuels for power generation.
Whether they are solar farms that can be seen from space or a mineral mine in Africa, the London Market has a deep understanding of the challenges of capturing, converting and distributing solar power. By using its expertise to insure the construction and ongoing operations of renewable energy, London is helping to create a cleaner and safer environment – as well as lowering energy costs.

7. GETTING COMMUNITIES BACK ON THEIR FEET
The London Market has a global reputation for delivering on its claims promise - paying over $100 million every day – real evidence of the depth of resource available to take on and pay out on larger scale risks, in any market condition.
For example, after huge wildfires in Canada caused CAN$3.58bn in losses, the London Market used advanced satellite imagery to accelerate the claims process. That way, it was able to evaluate the extent of the damage and make faster claims’ payments so residents could get their lives back on track, and the local economy could get back to business.
When the Caribbean was hit by hurricanes in the summer of 2017, widespread damage was inflicted on hospitals, hotels, supermarkets and other major resources. In response, the London Market went the extra mile to provide funds and support for vital services.
With power loss a widespread issue, planes were chartered to fly in generators and fuel. Satellite phones were sourced to guarantee communications, and in one exceptional case, an adjuster hired a catamaran and sailed through the storms to reach an insured and begin assessing their claim. In spite of difficulty of access, as well as lack of power and infrastructure, London made multi-million dollar payments to a huge number of insureds within days.
The market is also taking steps to achieve a faster, more efficient authorisation of non-complex payments. In 2018, a new protocol was launched for claims of up to £250,000 to help get clients back on their feet faster.

8. HELPING TO FLY IN THE FACE OF RISK
The best solutions come from collaboration between people and businesses with a range of technical skills and expertise operating in the unique ecosystem that exists only in London.
Demand for air travel for example is predicted to double in the next ten years, and airlines need to invest in their fleets. The London Market accounts for 60% of global aviation insurance, creating that collaboration to solve these large and complex risks. By building a consortium to insure against airlines defaulting on loans for new aircraft, the Market reduced the cost of borrowing for airlines while increasing the lenders’ confidence in the transaction, providing the cover for airlines to meet their future growth needs.

9. HELPING FAMILIES OUT OF DEEP WATER
The Market is also able to think creatively to for homeowners in flood affected geographies. The US National Flood Insurance Program established in 1968 has restricted terms and conditions and relatively low limits. Limitations that were exposed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, leaving many US homeowners with little or no recourse to insurance to help them repair damage to their houses or possessions.
Using data and technology that enabled them to do away with elevation certificates, London market underwriters were able to devise a flood product with higher limits and a wider scope of cover than NFIP policies. The coverage also has a much simpler definition of what constitutes flood, broader coverage for personal property and additional coverage for alternative accommodation while repairs are taking place. The result is peace of mind for US homeowners from a product that is fit for purpose and which will respond properly in time of need.

10. INSURING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIVELY
The London Market has a reputation for being at the centre of global risk transfer innovation and its participants have historically been pioneers for new product development and managing emerging risks.
London now accounts for 28% of global cyber insurance and helps businesses large and small to recover from the consequences of cyber-attack, pioneering cover and services that barely existed a decade ago. 
Here is a real-life example of that innovative thinking. Today, data is used to make many important decisions, and for patients the most important of these are medical. Whether in diagnostic procedures or clinical trials, doctors now use algorithms, artificial intelligence and supercomputers to provide better care to their patients. But when it comes to medical data, security is paramount. That’s why the London Market delivers industry-leading solutions to protect it.
Beyond entirely new risks, London is also an innovator when it comes to being flexible in its approach to policy wording, particularly for more bespoke policies, or in traditional markets. For example, London has been protecting the world's ships for three centuries and still insures 33% of the global marine market. But it is not resting on its reputation. London market underwriters were involved in the creation of one of the first blockchain platforms to provide marine insurance, helping to improve transparency and reduce costs.

11. Many buyers access London for risks that domestic re/insurers choose not to write because they are not standard or are specialty business for which international brokers or their clients believe the London Market can offer a better price and/or better terms. For example, London is the largest non-US writer of excess and surplus lines business.
Over 200 broking firms operate in the London Market and virtually all business is placed by brokers on behalf of their clients—whether policyholders or cedents and they provide vital inks along the value chain. Coverholders are another important link in the chain for the London Market. Around 40% of delegated authority business in London comes from the US. Coverholders combine the best of both worlds: the capacity and the expertise of the delegating insurer with the benefits of local knowledge, underwriting authority and claims payment. This way, London offers the opportunity to match risk and capital, whatever the risk may be.
Insurance is a famously traditional industry, but in the last three years, London has introduced a series of initiatives aimed at speeding risks, funds and data between market participants to provide a faster service for clients. London has launched the first market-wide electronic placement platform. All lines of business are now e live on the platform. To date 50 brokers and 113 carriers are signed up and over the past year 23,308 risks have been bound on the platform, 63, 6224 firm orders and 50,016 endorsements have been processed.
In September 2018, a delegated authority submission access and transformation solution (DA SATS) went live. It provides a central service to standardise the collection, validation, processing and supply of delegated authority data across the market. The initial take-up has been strong, and over half of the London Market insurers and brokers who handle delegated authority business have signed-up for the service, and four of the five largest managing agents are on the system.