Lloyd’s India Branch Officially Opens
Lloyd's insurer MS Amlin policy signing ceremony witnessed by UK Chancellor Philip Hammond
Mumbai, 5 April, 2017 - Lloyd’s, the world’s specialist insurance and reinsurance market, commenced operations in India today and welcomed MS Amlin as the first syndicate to join the branch and begin underwriting, effective from April 1st. The signing of a ceremonial Lloyd’s India policy was witnessed by the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond and Lloyd’s Chairman John Nelson, as part of a trade delegation to boost ties between the UK and India.
Lloyd’s India will act as a domestic reinsurance branch of Lloyd’s, providing capacity and expertise to support India’s growing economy with a particular focus on infrastructure, agriculture and disaster management.
Commenting on the event, the UK Chancellor, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, said:
“Lloyd’s decision to expand into India is a perfect example of the role Britain’s world-leading financial services sector plays in supporting growth both at home and abroad.
“It will help Indian insurance firms increase the resilience of the Indian economy to catastrophic events and boost Britain’s ties with one of the world’s most exciting economies, underlining our status as a truly global, trading nation.”
John Nelson, Chairman of Lloyd’s, said:
“I am delighted that Lloyd’s operations in India are now open. This is a true milestone in Lloyd’s 328-year history. We have long hoped to be able to increase our support for the Indian market and now we are on the doorstep of our clients and trading partners in Mumbai and we look forward to working with them to develop the types of innovative risk solutions that Lloyd’s is world famous for."
“Lloyd’s will help to strengthen and diversify the Indian reinsurance market, increasing the capacity, products and choice available to Indian insurers. This will, in turn, help to create a more vibrant insurance market and increase the level of protection across the Indian economy.”
Hugo Bashall, CEO of MS Amlin India, said:
“We have a long-standing relationship with the Indian insurance market, having played a lead role in providing reinsurance to local cedents for many years. We look forward to making a positive contribution to the development of reinsurance onshore and providing a high-quality local service experience.”
MS Amlin is the first Lloyd’s insurer to join the reinsurance branch and their specialist underwriting team will offer a range of reinsurance products to Indian cedants. Further Lloyd’s insurers are expected to join in time.
The growth of India’s insurance market has not kept pace with the country’s rapid economic development, leaving many sections of the economy vulnerable in the face of significant natural catastrophe exposures. The introduction of foreign reinsurers will help to close this underinsurance gap and develop India as a centre for insurance, reinsurance and associated services.
Lloyd’s is committed to building more resilient communities by offering innovative solutions and sharing intelligence and expertise with insurance markets and policymakers around the world. Recently, Lloyd’s published a report Future Cities: Building Infrastructure Resilience to improve urban resilience. In addition, eight Lloyd’s syndicates recently committed capacity of US$400m towards solutions that tackle underinsurance and improve resilience against the economic impact of natural catastrophes in emerging and developing economies.