Lloyd’s of London chief John Neal to maneuver to Aon | USAEMALL.com

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Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal will leave the world’s oldest insurance market this year to take a new job leading the reinsurance and climate divisions at Aon, one of the industry’s biggest brokers.

Neal’s departure from one of the City of London’s top jobs comes as Lloyd’s prepares for former Treasury civil servant Sir Charles Roxburgh to replace Bruce Carnegie-Brown as its chair in May.

Neal was appointed to lead Lloyd’s in 2018. He steered the market through the disruption of Covid-19, preserving face-to-face trading and overseeing a recovery in profitability despite surging losses from natural catastrophes, helping Lloyd’s to deliver its best underwriting performance since 2007. 

But he also drew criticism over delays to a big IT project aimed at replacing the market’s decades-old back-office systems.

Neal said that during his tenure Lloyd’s had “put in place a framework that has delivered strong and sustainable financial performance and positions Lloyd’s for future success”.

His move was first reported by Insurance Insider and was confirmed by the companies on Wednesday.

Aon said Neal’s appointment would take effect following the conclusion of his notice period.

Neal’s title at Aon will be global chair of climate solutions and global CEO of reinsurance. The company said he would join “at a critical time as businesses and communities around the world must tackle increasing volatility driven by climate-related events”.