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Line 40

Published on 22/01/2010 04:01:56

Roger Foord

London and Global Insurance Systems Solutions, Marketing and PR

24 Lime Street, London EC3M 7HS

Mobile: 07710-479070

e-mail: roger@rogerfoord.com

web: www.rogerfoord.com

 

15th December 2009

 

LINE 40 –  Climate Change and thoughts from the year 

 

Thank you for reading my newsletter. This is issue 86 and previous issues of my newsletter and articles printed can be found on my website www.rogerfoord.com ‘Latest News and Opinion’ (the latest article has been published by ‘Run Off and Restructuring’ magazine and relates to claims in the London market).

This is the last newsletter of 2009. There have been quite successful activities in the London market this year, but the underlying principle has still been for IT people to get excited about change ,while the business carries on in its own sweet way.

Periodically the market gets some new words to get excited about, which are plastered over every presentation in the hope that this is the Holy Grail for technology change in London. This year’s has been the Lloyd’s Exchange. We will all have to wait and see if it is the answer to all previous ideas.

  

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In this issue:

* New members

* Climate change

* NYIE - another crowd of chancers joining the ‘e’ revolution, or worrying competition for London!

* Acord – successful year, but they have their own agenda 

* That was the year

 

  …. and finally, my annual market update and charity breakfast – Thursday January 7th 2010

 

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Welcome to new members:

 

John Towers of Advent Group

Tony Simmonds

Stewart Lightbody

Katrina Pullar of Mahindrasatyam

Olga Zykaa

James Begley of Synergy Insurance

Alan Dainty of Thomas Miller

Trina Lynskey

Yemi betika

Robin James

Martin Lancaster of Canopius

George Worsley of Worldwide Risk Solutions

Craig Bentley City IS

Nicci Stokes of RKhib

Brian Turner

Harry Bates of TFTC

Tony Silver of WH Capital

Matt Baron

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Climate Change - carbon footprint to die for! Should Lloyd’s take the initiative in 2010

As the world focuses on the effects of climate change in Copenhagen, some observers are focusing on the impacts of the conference itself.

Despite efforts by organizers to green the conference – by using limos fueled by plant waste, serving organic food and tap water (instead of bottled), and offering the free use of 200 bicycles – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that the conference will generate about 40,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. (By way of comparison, Denmark, the conference host, emitted 72 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2006.)

Most of this is the result of travel to and from Copenhagen by the 15,000 or so participants (not including thousands of journalists), but it also includes emissions that result from energy use at the Bella Centre (which has nearly 80,000 square meters of conference space and enough telecommunications infrastructure to handle 80,000 simultaneous phone calls), hotel stays and local transportation.

Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary general, said in a news briefing on Tuesday that action is be taken to ensure pollution generated by the conference is canceled out – via an emissions-reduction project in Bangladesh.

Lloyd’s have representatives at the conference. I have noticed that like all top managements Lloyd’s provides its top executives with limos for daily use to travel about ten minutes. These cars then hang around all day for the return trip.

In 2010 maybe Lloyd’s, as a charitably minded organisation could be persuaded to ditch the limo, and talk other city types to follow suit, thus making a statement. Let’s face it London does have a public transport system and I can’t imagine that the chauffeur driven cars are in case of kidnap. Nobody would be found to pay the ransom!  

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New York Insurance Exchange

Just as the Lloyd’s Exchange is starting to get out of its nappies (Aon,Marsh and Willis’ join the Acord messaging revolution), the Americans decide to join the bandwagon.

Based on history this is a likely to ‘go nowhere’ but the fact that it has been mentioned should make Lloyd’s begin to think whether they have gone far enough. The fear factor of ‘the ghost of Kinnect Past’ sends shivers down the spines but if there is to be placing support then it must surely embrace anything that the NYIE comes up with. I presume that just as the top brokers mentioned above are supporting the LE, they might have even more interest in something sitting in their own back yard.

Whether the LE makes sense or is just another ‘what shall we try next’ idea, 2010 might mean a stronger attitude and probably a system to include payment.

There again if this is the case then the sooner Lloyd’s take a trip from Lime Street to Leadenhall Street and ‘kiss and make up’  with Xchanging Insure Services the better.The London market needs it!

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Acord – everybody’s friend

2009 seemed to be the year of Acord. At their Orlando conference the whole world seemed to be joining the XML standards bandwagon. Australia, Canada,China. In London ,if it isn’t Acord then you can’t join the party. The situation is, though, that the more Acord is successful the more the global world will be a level playing field. This isn’t Acord’s fault as it is their role to provide standard insurance messaging ‘Acord is there providing the glue for messages to go straight through’.

If I had to award an IT award for 2009 it would be to Acord, even though they might finish up, like Microsoft, too powerful.

Next year is their 40th anniversary and their insurance conference is in Vegas in May. Should be a good one if it is affordable from the UK. 

 

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2009  What happened?

* It was a year of several happenings in Market Reform.

A new name, a new monthly newsletter and a new chairman. 

* Statistics were available on all of the market initiatives. Yet again not a lot from clients.

The ECF story rumbled on with ever more glowing numbers, but I hear that brokers are once again beginning to find the quickest way to a claims underwriter’s heart for a claim is via a personal visit.

*  Something that still hasn’t happened is the long awaited demise of the Chatham van. It is nearly three years now since the Lloyd’s CEO promised a scrapped sculpture of the van to be placed in the Lloyd’s reception. The plinth is still empty even with the government’s scrappage system, which could have bought a new limo! C’est la vie, maybe 2010, or maybe 2011 or maybe never!

* To me the most interesting quote of the year was that of the Lloyd’s CEO at a lunchtime speech on the Lloyd’s Old Library when he  was honest enough to say ‘ that his thoughts had been, when he started his job, that the ‘floor’ and ‘galleries would be ripe for conversion to electronic trading. However within a very short period of time his view changed, and in his words: ‘It will not happen in my life-time at Lloyd’s’.

 

* Insurance was able to pat itself on the back, look particularly smug and say what ‘good boys and girls we are, not like those people the other side of Bishopsgate!

In fact the Lloyd’s website made a point of this:

‘It is important to make a distinction between the insurance and banking sectors. The impact so far of the financial crisis on the insurance sector has been limited. For the most part, insurance is an economic necessity, not a discretionary purchase. Homes, cars, businesses and workers all need to be insured, irrespective of the state of the economy.’

Even better, the Equitas model for ring fencing toxic claims, developed by David Rowlands, was put up as an example to be used by the dodgy bankers and government..

* Several people climbed the outside of the Lloyd’s building, including the Frenchman Alain Roberts for the second time (somebody needs to tell him that it is possible to get in by the front door if you know somebody with a Lloyd’s pass).

* Rolf Tolle left as Lloyd’s Franchise Director to be replaced by Tom Bolt

* The desire to pay taxes outside of the UK came up during the year from a couple of London insurance companies. Personally I find this distasteful as these same companies only made themselves ‘fat cats’ on the back of Lloyd’s in their formative days. The thought that the government will help them out with tax benefits just to make them even fatter cats is wrong. Pay what is due, the rest of us have to. 

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........and finally a reminder for my  Annual Charity Review of the Year - January 7th 2010

To the fifty of you who have responded, thank you, to any other interested I will be holding my annual review of the year in the London insurance market on 7th January 2010.

It will, as usual, be a charity breakfast event at Balls Brothers restaurant Lime Street from 8.30 am until 10.00 am.

I will be helped as usual by my entertaining friends John Preston and Julian Kirkman-Page. Please put the date in your diary and let me know that you will support us in reviewing the past and looking forward to the future.  Email me at roger@rogerfoord.com or call me on 07710-479070.

The cost, including full English breakfast, will be £15.

Finally I hope you all have a great seasonal time, Christmas and New Year,

Best wishes,

Roger

 

Thank you for reading. Please pass onto friends or colleagues and ask them to register via my website. www.rogerfoord.com .

Best wishes

Roger,

www.rogerfoord.com

 

 

 

 

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