Foreword

Insurance Capital Markets Research (ICMR) and the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) are pleased to present a detailed analysis and comment on Lloyd’s 31/12/2024 results.

This report, co-authored by ICMR and the LMA, covers the overall performance of the market and conducts a detailed examination of individual syndicate performance. It explores the factors driving growth and profitability across syndicates of varying sizes and maturity levels, and analyses the key risk-return profiles within Lloyd’s major classes of business. Additionally, the report benchmarks the market’s performance against liquid specialty (re)insurance investments and catastrophe bond indices.

The report demonstrates that Lloyd’s as a market continues to offer an attractive return on capital to investors with low correlation when compared with other asset classes. This is driving continuing investor interest in deploying capital at Lloyd’s, interest that is not always able to be matched with opportunity to implement in a timely fashion. This constraint on opportunity at scale, whilst frustrating for new investors, may be an important factor in maintaining underlying pricing discipline.

At an individual syndicate level, almost all syndicates have made an underwriting profit in 2024, despite the market being tested by some major claims events which were absent in 2023. While closer to average, 2024 major claims still fell below long term levels. Given the extra costs and capital loadings applied to start-up syndicates, the analysis shows that the post-COVID window was clearly a good time to commence underwriting in Lloyd’s. The 2024 league table of syndicates by pre-tax results highlights the consistent performers but also demonstrates that size alone is no guarantee of inclusion in the top 10 performers.

Insurance Capital Markets Research &
Lloyd’s Market Association