Making Lloyd's relevant again: Keese reflects on six years as CFO

By George Abbott

March 25 - (The Insurer) - Burkhard Keese joined The Insurer TV to reflect on his six-year tenure as CFO at Lloyd's, which will conclude in May. Discussing the turnaround of Lloyd's financial results during this time, the executive attributed the improvement to the Corporation's efforts to re-establish the near-350-year-old market's relevance in the wider insurance ecosystem.

"I believe the driving force behind the turnaround is relevance. The most important thing has been to help people understand how crucial the Lloyd's market is for the industry," Keese said.

"People were questioning how the whole system works, and I think we have proven over the last six years that it works exceptionally well."

Lloyd’s announced in January that Keese will leave the Corporation on May 1 to focus on investment roles in the German insurance market. He will remain a strategic adviser to Lloyd’s, focusing on the development of the London Bridge 2 platform.

During his time as CFO, Keese has overseen a notable performance turnaround in the Lloyd’s market, including the strengthening of its balance sheet, which was recognised by financial strength rating upgrades by S&P Global and AM Best in December 2023 and August 2024, respectively.

When Keese became CFO on April 1, 2019, Lloyd's had just reported a 2018 combined ratio of 104.5% and a pre-tax loss of 1 billion pounds. He will leave Lloyd's shortly after the market delivered an 86.9% combined ratio and a pre-tax profit of 9.6 billion pounds for 2024.

According to Keese, Lloyd's renewed relevance has been driven in part by effective communication. An example of this is the quarterly market messages from chief of markets Patrick Tiernan, "where he highlights areas needing improvement in underwriting, similar to a central bank's guidance", Keese explained.

Keese noted that this relevance is evident as more third-party partners are eager to collaborate with Lloyd's, while its constituent syndicates have looked to grow within the market, lifting Lloyd's collective stamp capacity by approximately 26 billion pounds since 2019.

"I think that's one of the reasons why everyone is now looking to do something with Lloyd's," he added.

NOT JUST LUCK

Reflecting on his favourite moment during his tenure, Keese highlighted the announcement of the market's 2024 results, which he believes demonstrate that Lloyd's turnaround wasn't merely due to favourable market conditions.

"Last year was great, but people were still saying, 'That was luck'. This year is probably my favourite moment because it's clear it wasn't luck. We now have three consecutive years of around an 80% underlying combined ratio, with 2021 already showing an 82% underlying combined ratio. It's nearly four years of stability," he said.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL, BUT WITH DISCIPLINE

Also speaking to The Insurer TV, deputy CFO Alexandra Cliff, who will take over from Keese upon his departure in May, emphasised the importance of maintaining discipline despite the positive results.

"We're in an excellent position heading into 2025, and we must stay on that path. The message of discipline is absolutely critical.

“Yes, we've had a great year, and it's the second year of fantastic results, but over seven years, we've only returned 7.6% to the capital invested in the market. The challenge going forward is to ensure that continues," Cliff stated.