Lloyd's Opens Sydney Office
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday April 7, 1998
The world's biggest and best-known insurance underwriter, Lloyd's of London, will open a representative office in Sydney at the end of the month to facilitate faster growth of its $200-million Australian market - its eighth biggest - and provide a better level of service to brokers.
Mr Steve Boucher - who has been with Lloyd's for 21 years, most recently as a negotiator of new trading arrangements for Lloyd's in Australia and Africa - will take up a two-year post as the head of the Hunter Street representative office.
"We want to support our key markets better and develop stronger links with our cover holders and broker network in Australia," Mr Boucher said yesterday.
Last year Lloyd's wrote more than $200 million of premiums from Australian risks, largely in specialist and niche markets.
That figure is lower than it was five years ago but represents a slight increase on the 1996 premium figure. Just over a third of those premiums - 37 per cent - represent general liability insurance, with 31 per cent coming from property damage cover, 7 per cent from aircraft damage and liability, 9 per cent motor vehicle insurance and 9 per cent from ship damage and liability.
The balance consists of accident and health, pecuniary loss and goods in transit. Lloyd's has been underwriting business in Australia for more than a century through a network of about 80 brokers and what are called "cover holders". The Australian representative office is one of only 15 round the world, including several in Europe and one in each of New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
"One of the reasons we are setting up the office is that we believe there is development [potential] in those areas," Mr Boucher said.
He said comprehensive motor vehicle insurance was one of the fastest growing segments of the market. He hopes his presence on the ground in Sydney will make it easier for Lloyd's to react faster to new products and ideas.
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald