The number of Lloyd’s insurers trading electronically could be set to rise after Bermuda-based Aspen Re became the first company to follow in the footsteps of the Group of Six (G6) in adopting the peer-to-peer platform.
Using the data standards and processes agreed by the G6 in 2006, Aspen Re will trade live risk messages electronically with Lloyd’s brokers, using its own IT platform launched this week.
It is understood that at least another three Lloyd’s insurers are also looking to adopt a similar system as the market moves towards greater business process efficiency.
Lisa Gibbard, head of IT at Aspen, told Insurance Times she hoped Aspen’s adoption of peer-to-peer would now encourage others to follow.
She said: “This proves that G6 standards are available to everyone and not just them as a group competing with the rest of the market.
“A number of people have looked at peer-to-peer and said, ‘yes, we can see the benefits’. But until people come to the table, we are not going to gain the initiative we need in the market as a whole.”
Gibbard said trading electronically would result in significant operational efficiencies worldwide, helping remove the need to retype information as well as allowing underwriters the time to focus on underwriting risks rather than administrative tasks.
