Sexism and bullying will be stopped, promises Lloyd’s of London chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown
Pledge: Lloyd’s of London chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown
Lloyd’s of London is making progress cleaning up its sexist culture, the chairman has said.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, 62, said the insurance market was ‘absolutely four-square behind’ eradicating widespread bullying and harassment uncovered in 2019. Lloyd’s has since set up a whistleblowing hotline and targets around diversity and inclusion.
The business last week slapped a £1million fine on Atrium Underwriters, who were found to have held raucous ‘boys’ nights out’ every year until 2018. The event, which included heavy drinking, initiation games and sexual remarks about female staff, resulted in the largest-ever fine imposed by the independent disciplinary committee at Lloyd’s.
Carnegie-Brown told the Evening Standard: ‘We continue to crack down on bad behaviour. The important thing is we are taking action.
‘The market is becoming more diverse and inclusive. We probably have a more entrenched history in this area so we’ve got some more work to do.’
Lloyd’s reported a return to profit yesterday, but warned the war in Ukraine will result in a significant jump in claims this year.
The organisation made pre-tax profits of £2.3billion in 2021 against losses of £900million in 2020.
While the pandemic saw Lloyd’s suffer its worst underwriting result for three years, its combined operating ratio, which is a measure of underwriting profitability, improved from 110.3 per cent in 2020 to 93.5 per cent last year – the best result for seven years.
The group’s chief executive John Neal said: ‘In a world buffeted by increasingly complex and connected risks, the Lloyd’s market is standing by its customers and supporting their recovery when things go wrong.
‘Against this backdrop, I’m pleased to see the market return to profitability.’
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