Ladies and gentlemen, Ambassador,
Thank you for your warm welcome. It gives me enormous pleasure to announce that the winning Correspondent is Giovanni Tremolada of Tremolada Assicurazioni.
Al vincitore – bravo. Ben fatto. E all’altro candidato, un ottimo lavoro anche il suo – un eccellente contributo da parte di tutti. Grazie, ma ora devo parlare Inglese!
This award both recognises the innovation of coverholders in our industry and encourages others to emulate it. Today’s winner provides inspiration to us all.
It strikes me as particularly apt that tonight’s award is taking place in Milan – a city which has always blended commerce and creativity so well. Allessandro Manzoni was born here. Leonardo da Vinci and Verdi produced their best work here. There must be something in the air - I hope I take at least some of it back with me to London.
Lloyds and Italy go back a long way – a quarter of a century for our direct re-insurance business and over half a century for re-insurance. You are the largest source of direct business for Lloyd’s in the whole of continental Europe and the second if we include reinsurance. Our relationship with you is incredibly important to us – as the presence here tonight of our very welcome guests the British Ambassador, Christopher Prentice, and the British Consul General, Vic Annells, clearly demonstrates.
Whether the global economy has soared or slumped, you haven’t stopped – over the last decade you’ve been the fastest growing market for Lloyd’s. And, just like your immaculate Italian tailoring, you wear the brand with pride – last year’s survey showed Italy in the top three countries for both brand reach and recognition.
That’s the good news for Lloyd’s in Italy. The bad news is that we find ourselves in the eye of an economic storm. The latest downgrading of the country’s credit ratings is hurting Italian banks – highlighting the link between sovereign and financial sector risks. Money is tight and confidence is low.
But the public mood is turning and the pressure to get to grips with both the economic and the political crisis is increasing. The growing will in Italy to deal with these problems, rather than talk them down, is already strong and it’s getting stronger. A solid plan to re-launch the economy may be on its way – which would be good news for insurers and the financial services sector as a whole - but we are far from being out of the woods yet.
It’s a challenge we can face in one of two ways. We can look at the situation as it is and struggle to exploit it or we can anticipate how it will develop and identify the opportunities ahead.
And the opportunities are many. If state assets are privatised to pay down debt, this can only be good news for insurers. And Lloyd’s, with its focus on expertise and its specialist knowledge of risk, will be an obvious first choice to take on this new business.
Despite the current gloom, Italy has a head start in so many ways.
Unlike some European economies, you have kept your strong industrial base. More than that, you’ve kept it in the family. Italian businesses are still, largely, in Italian hands. Fiat, Ferrari, the Ferrero Group, Prada, Armani – all family owned and all epitomising the niche style that no one does quite as well.
These brands are household names throughout the West – but they don’t stop at the borders of Europe or the United States. Now, as the balance of global trade changes and new, strong economies are emerging in Asia and South America, now is Italy’s time to bring its quality and technical excellence to new markets. A huge surge in demand from China helped make 2010 Ferrari’s most profitable year ever and only last week Prada announced that Asia had become its number one market.
Italy is rich in so many ways, but can be oddly modest about telling others about its wealth. Take tourism. The architectural and cultural heritage of Italy is the envy of the New World.
Some countries might build a mausoleum around a brick. Well, Italy doesn’t need to create instant history– you have the real thing. Tourism has a vital role to play in Italy’s economic growth – it should be much better protected, promoted and publicised.
The quality and specialism which characterises this country also defines Lloyd’s in Italy. In a hugely competitive environment – particularly on an international level - you are playing to your strengths and writing more niche business.
The list of our Italian clients is a roll call of prestige – the art in Milan’s galleries, the liability lines of all Italian notaries, Verona’ s Opera season, ENI, Maserati, Fiat, Trussardi, Ferrari.
These are names that resonate around the world - and they choose Lloyd’s. That’s a major vote of confidence in us in an uncertain world.
Our clients know we pay all valid claims; we always have and we always will – however tough the climate is for insurers.
We all knew, even before we published our interim results for the first six months of 2011, that this was turning out to be a tough year for insurers. One after the other, earthquakes, tornadoes and other natural catastrophes have taken their toll in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and America.
As rarely before, the natural catastrophes we have witnessed so far this year have reinforced the importance of underwriting discipline. Lloyd’s has never been about a headlong rush to grab market share – we have survived over 300 years in the business by a strong focus on writing for value and making sure we are able to trade forward whatever happens.
So, while our interim results reflect the difficulties faced by many of our policyholders in the first six months of this year, our financial security and stability remain strong.
We are securely capitalised, we have excellent ratings and we are well placed to continue providing excellent levels of service to our clients in the months ahead.
It is you, our brokers and cover holders, who lie at the heart of our success. It is your knowledge and your relationships that bring us good, profitable business. And it is major markets like Italy which offer us the biggest opportunity to do more business together.
The global economy may not currently offer us a guarantee of security, but it does offer us a world of opportunities. I know that, together, we will make as much of them in the future as we have in the past.
Grazie. And now, I have pleasure in presenting to you the Chairman of ILLCA, Sig. Ferruccio Rito.
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