Trouble on oily water
We are all in new territory. US government officials reckon that oil has been gushing at a rate of between 1.47 and 2.52 million gallons per day since April 20. At that rate, the disaster dwarves the...
View ArticleHurricane forecasting: No longer a Gray area
It wasn’t so many years ago that pioneering Dr Bill Gray of Colorado State University had a monopoly when it came to capturing underwriters’ attention as he announced his forecast for hurricane...
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Record Global Temperatures...
NOAA today released figures confirming what the overworked barbeques and increased sales in sunblock have been telling us for the past month – that this June has officially had the warmest global land...
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It never rains but it pours
Working with CCRM, and analysing detailed daily rainfall data from the UK Met Office archives, Lloyd’s has looked at the changing patterns of extreme rainfall events in London. Comparing two 46 year...
View ArticleClimate change with a twist
At the start of this month I attended the second assembly for CREW – the Community Resilience to Extreme Weather project. CREW comes under the broad banner of climate change initiatives but as I...
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2010: A Game of Two Halves
The first half of 2010 has kicked up insured natural catastrophe losses totalling US$22bn, more than double the first half average since 2000 and even higher when compared to 2008, when the previous...
View ArticleAre we facing a food crisis?
Russia’s recent ban on grain exports has prompted fears among some that we may be facing a food crisis similar to that of 2007-8. Wheat prices soared to a 23-month high last week as Russia announced a...
View ArticleFrom here to eternity... at least that's how it feels sometimes!
Changing the way a 320-year-old market works with almost two hundred organisations involved isn’t the easiest thing. With the LMG driving progress and all of the market associations supporting the...
View ArticleFood security risk will hit Africa hardest
A new food security index published by the risk analysis firm Maplecroft suggests that countries in sub-Saharan Africa will be hardest hit in terms of future food security. The index evaluates the...
View ArticleThe threat of pandemics is here to stay...
The WHO may have declared the official end to swine flu, but the risk of deadly disease has not gone away. This month, the UK Health Protection Agency reported 50 cases of the NDM-1 “superbug” in UK...
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No surprises please…
The aftermath of an expensive hurricane is not a good time to find out that the basis risk wrapped up in the protection you’ve bought means zero recovery or painful shortfall. Any (re)insurer who took...
View ArticleStatement of Intent
There is increasing evidence that climate change is leading to more extreme weather events and it is frequently the individuals and communities that are least able to cope with such events that are...
View ArticleSurveying for a solution to water problems
The launch of the survey coincided with World Water Week and reflects a growing recognition in Government and the wider economy that securing future supplies of affordable, clean water in a...
View ArticleMonte Carlo and the paradise syndrome
In my experience there are two types of Monte Carlo Rendez-vous. There’s the type that coincides with a big loss event, such as 9/11 or Katrina, or a financial crisis like the fall of Lehman. In those...
View ArticleDiscovering Formby and Warrington
My challenge is to ensure that Lloyd's maintains the same standards (and also enjoys the same benefits!) in the UK as it does overseas, especially with regard to our relationships with the...
View ArticleThe Market of First Choice?
The Gracechurch London Market 2010 Study’s main headline was that Brokers were “very positive” about doing business at Lloyd’s over the next three years but digging down into the details some...
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Billions potentially facing water scarcity
According to a new US study, water scarcity may pose an even bigger and more immediate threat to people and businesses than previously assumed. Writing in the journal, Nature, the study authors report...
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Natural climate variability
Climate change sceptics often point to anomalies in the patterns of climate change. For instance, Arctic sea ice in 2007 was at an all time low, but it has since recovered to some extent. Does this...
View ArticleEndorsements Pilot is Go! Benefits start to flow?
Friday proved to be a momentous day, certainly in the Market Operations team when the endorsements pilot went live, as we saw a flurry of live endorsements passing between brokers and underwriters...
View ArticleRediscovering Sussex ... and the Lloyd's brand
As I journeyed through some very picturesque parts of West Sussex to visit two potential new coverholders it occurred to me that my "reverse-commute" seemed a little out of step with the routine for...
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