Critics are fond of saying that if you were to create an insurance market you wouldn't come up with Lloyd's
Although its 318-year existence seems to contradict this view, it may be a conclusion the new Lloyd's chief executive, Richard Ward, may be drawing once he has taken up his role.
Ward has to address big questions. How will Lloyd's pick up the pieces after the Kinnect debacle? The tortuous attempts to get the market to sign up to a new trading platform was abandoned this year after it had been accepted that no one really wanted it - and after accruing costs in excess of £70m (page 16). A costly process that has left Lloyd's saying it will set standards, not build solutions.
Whether Ward has the experience and know-how to deal with the fall out will have to be seen. The appointment of the former head of the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) raises many questions.
First, does he have what it takes to take the market forward? It is revealing that Lloyd's chairman Lord Levene commended Ward's skills to achieve a "consensus" in the divergent IPE market. Surely Lloyd's needs more than a consensus maker among its divergent participants. It needs somebody who can shake up the market and take it forward, kicking and screaming if need be.
But some in the market have suggested Ward will have to work through a "vertical learning curve." That can be interpreted that he faces some very tough days ahead.
On a more positive note, capital levels in the market seem reasonable, and the rating environment in the wake of Katrina appears to be passable, for the time being. Although the Lloyd's Market Association view is that 2006 will be a tougher test than last year (page 28).
And the men to take Lloyd's forward give their assessments on the future of Lloyd's, with Rolf Tolle in fighting form, confident that Lloyd's will see off the threat of Bermuda (page 10).
And not one to miss an opportunity, Lloyd's has expanded into China and is planning to set up an operation in India by the end of the year (page 40). This makes sense given that Asia continues to outstrip the rest of the world in economic growth terms. Lloyd's is looking to exploit the region's burgeoning insurance market.
Lloyd's big strength is offering specialist cover, such as that offered to the world's top footballers (page 18).
