Lloyd's of London
THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM MY TRAVEL JOURNAL WHICH WAS WRITTEN FOR MY STUDY ABROAD COURSE "CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL BUSINESS: CAMBRIDGE 2016"
Visit #8 – Lloyd’s of London
We were privileged to pay a visit to the notorious Lloyd’s of London in the financial district one morning. We were split into two groups for a tour of the insurance marketplace. Brisked away into the middle of the floor, our awesome tour guide, gave us a rundown of the longstanding history of the establishment as well as an inside look into not only its daily activities, but also a peek into other hidden parts of the building.
A self regulated marketplace, all business is transacted through brokers. Just a few of what claims to be insured at Lloyd’s: property, race horses, pharmaceutical, fine arts, oil rigs, Troy Polamalu’s hair, Taylor Swift’s legs and Jennifer Lopez’s bum – which she vehemently refuted a few days earlier on a late night show.
While we were given background information on the marketplace, he led us towards a big open book at the center of the huge room. One such book was used to record losses of ships in particular, after every closing day. This loss had to be inscribed by hand if there was such a loss on that given day.
To give us an example of some of the values assigned to items that were insured at this location, he used the unfortunate case of September 11, 2001. On that day alone, $20 billion was lost. To provide greater magnitude, from the American and United Airlines planes to the Twin Towers’ policy structure, 25% from the total loss of that day was insured at Lloyd’s.
Assessment
Out of all the corporate visits, I did not know what to expect from Lloyd’s except that the architecture, the building itself, stood out to me from the photos I found online. From this angle, it seemed like that I would be stepping into something out of the Harry Potter books. Knowing that it was a marketplace, I was expecting to see droves of professionals coming in and out, but obviously, appearances can be deceiving and it was not as bustling or wild as I had imagined.
Analysis
There was something about the folks that were going up and down the escalators, carrying their big, bulky folders – and even the ones who were tied down to their desks, on their phones, facing each other, making their dealings as well as the ones that were waiting patiently sitting on one of the benches. They were very assured and confident in their stride and I was very impressed. It was quite a sight to take in, knowing that this marketplace has been integral to myriads of deals and brokerage for the past 300+ years.
We came to find out that Lloyd’s also housed a Global Development Centre which is meant to host events for networking and educational purposes. There was an event taking place while we were taking our tour and a bunch of young professionals were gathered in a conference room for one of these occasions. I was becoming more and more intrigued about London and its business and financial district after this visit.