Lloyd’s of London to end flagship diversity event

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Lloyd’s of London will end its flagship diversity, equity and inclusion event this year even as the insurance market grapples with improving its reputation as a workplace and broadening its talent pipeline.

The centuries-old insurance market will cancel Dive In, an annual festival aimed at improving “inclusion” in the sector, after hosting a final session in September, it said on its website on Friday.

Lloyd’s will launch a consultation on a new programme to support “culture, skills and talent”, it added.

Insurers at Lloyd’s and across the wider London market have for years faced claims of sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behaviour.

In 2019, a survey commissioned by Lloyd’s found 8 per cent of respondents, or about 480 people, had suffered or witnessed sexual harassment during the previous year. A similar survey by the insurance market last year found that the proportion had fallen to 1 per cent, Lloyd’s told the FT.

More than a fifth of respondents to the 2019 survey had watched people within their organisation “turn a blind eye to inappropriate behaviour”, Lloyd’s also found.

Lloyd’s, where hundreds of broking and insurance companies gather to do business, has struggled to balance its efforts to address these issues with backlash from some members of the market. Some members have argued privately that recent initiatives by the market had overstepped Lloyd’s role as a regulator and intruded on firms’ abilities to set their own policies.

Former Lloyd’s chief executive John Neal, who left the market last year, introduced policies designed to curb inappropriate behaviour within the market. Early in his tenure, Lloyd’s updated its code of conduct to bar people under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs from entering Lloyd’s and set up a bullying and harassment hotline.

But Neal drew criticism within the market for those moves, with some accusing the former executive of over-reach and hypocrisy. The criticism mounted after the former boss faced a probe regarding his own workplace behaviour.

Neal had been set to serve as the next president of AIG. But the New York insurer last November cancelled his appointment, citing “personal circumstances”. Days later, Lloyd’s hired lawyers to investigate potential governance failings following concerns within the market over the appointment during Neal’s tenure of a woman with whom he had a close personal relationship to the market’s executive committee.

Neal did not respond to a request for comment.

Jason Groves, former chair of Dive In, wrote on LinkedIn that he was “saddened” by the news that the event would be cancelled.

“It has drawn attention to the need for the sector to attract a broader range of talent,” Groves wrote. “It is remarkable that, even as events such as Dive In have become less popular, last year we raised a record amount of sponsorship.”

London’s insurance workforce is ageing, according to a recent report from the London Market Group trade body, with the average age of an employee expected to increase to 46 by 2034.

Dive In has attracted more than 274,000 attendees since launching in 2015, according to its website.

Lloyd’s on Friday said the festival had “grown into a global movement” and it intended to build on Dive In’s success by “developing a broader agenda delivered through a programme of learning, mentoring, networks, thought leadership and early-careers support”.