ICMR Identifies ESG Gap in Lloyds Market

According to research from Insurance Capital Markets Research’s (ICMR), much of the ESG focused activity within the Lloyds market, including the recently launched LMA ESG Academy, continues to focus on inward business and managing agent operations as oppose to the owners of managing agencies, most of which are publicly listed and have been publicly rated for their ESG risks and performance.

If anything, ICMR argues, Lloyds should develop a "holistic" framework that takes into account how the emerging ESG best practices within Lloyds market could propagate to parent (re)insurers. One hurdle however is the problematic regulatory dynamic of any broader collective action amongs market participants. Lloyds, which has consistently expressed support for ESG measures within its marketplace in order to help accelerate the transition to net zero and to slow the harmful effects of climate change, was among those who exited the UN-Convened Net Zero Insurance Association earlier this year citing regulatory risks associated with competition laws.