May 2017
In February 2017 the LMA held its first Delegated Authority Forum in the Lloyd’s Old Library. This inaugural forum event comes at an important time for the delegated authorities market, which has been growing with more and more business being placed through binders and facilities. At the same time this growth is balanced against ongoing change through increased regulation and market modernisation.
Communicating more effectively with all market participants is paramount in this environment, both in London and worldwide. As a result, the LMA is putting in place a framework for how we will communicate with all stakeholders.
The Delegated Authority Forum is an example of that: where we feel we can distribute information more effectively by combining the delegated underwriting and delegated claims communities to help to align their approaches.
Everything that we are doing in the delegated authority space at the moment is underlined by two main aims: to improve ease of access for coverholders to the London Market and to reduce unnecessary duplication of effort and cost for both coverholders and managing agents.
To facilitate this, we want to engage more directly with all stakeholders throughout the delegated authority business chain. We want to make them aware of changes occurring in the market and why they are needed, and give them an opportunity to share their views and concerns.
Consequently, we have been working with the Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA) in London, who held its first Lloyd’s Market Forum during February. We also held our first TPA (third-party administrator) Forum during February, with a number of TPAs servicing managing agents attending. Both of these platforms give us and their members an opportunity to discuss issues directly, helping to shape opinion and to create a more inclusive dialogue. We’ll be looking to extend this approach to other territories, and hope that this will, ultimately, make Lloyd’s a more attractive marketplace for coverholders.
Combined with this, market modernisation is beginning to gather steam through the LMTOM (London Market Target Operating Model). Much of the coverholder audit process is now being managed through the AiMS system, with improvements due later in the year. We expect to see further centralisation of due diligence and bordereaux processes through this year and next, ultimately leading to much more streamlined access to London for coverholders.
Real progress is being made on improving the coverholder experience and reducing costs for managing agents, making the London market a more attractive place for delegated authority business.