The three largest global broking firms, Aon, Marsh and Willis, today gave their support to a key stage in progressing market modernisation by agreeing to pilot the Exchange for endorsements using the latest agreed version of the ACORD standard.
Richard Ward, Lloyd’s CEO, said: “The Exchange, which was an initiative originated by Lloyd’s, will be a key facilitator in continuing to modernise the market and the top three brokers are critical to driving live use and proving the value. I am grateful to all who are committed to make it succeed and we are now working with the London Market Group (LMG) to review the governance and ensure it becomes a true market Exchange.”
Gregory C. Case, President and CEO of Aon Corporation, said: “Aon is completely supportive of modernization of the Lloyd’s marketplace to create more efficiency and better insurance solutions for our clients.”
Dan Glaser, Marsh CEO, said: “Marsh is delighted to support the development of the Exchange by piloting a key facet of the operation. With ease of electronic access and process transparency, the Exchange provides clarity, quality and efficiency in exchanging standardized information. Ultimately, it’s our clients who stand to benefit from a more efficient marketplace and contract certainty – and that’s a compelling value proposition.”
Joe Plumeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Willis Group Holdings Limited, said: “Modernisation of the London Market is essential. A more efficient marketplace will deliver benefits for all participants, most importantly for our clients. We look forward to working with the other brokers and underwriters on the endorsements pilot.”
Barnabas Hurst-Bannister, LMG Chairman, said: “The goal of the LMG is to help the market to move forward collectively ensuring an increasingly competitive and compelling marketplace. The Exchange can make a significant contribution to modernisation and we will be working with the Associations to drive market-wide adoption.”
What is the Exchange ?
The Exchange is simply a messaging service. It enables brokers, underwriters and system providers to have a single connection point from which they can send and receive information between multiple parties to one common standard, making it easier to work in the London Market.
The service is already in place and run by IBM. It is a simple system to connect to and use. For ease of adoption this has been broken down into manageable steps and Managing Agents, Brokers and other service providers are currently being connected via a phased approach.
In conjunction with the Associations, the LMG will be seeking to set 2010 targets for the Market over the next few months.
