COVID-19 lockdown drives 40% e-trading growth in London market - AEGIS

Lloyd's managing agency AEGIS London has reported a 40 percent rise in  electronic trading through its quote-and-bind platform Opal in 2020.

The syndicate's e-trading platform handled over $70 million gross premium.

AEGIS said the increase was driven in part by the continuing organic growth as well as boost in e-trading created by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Opal was launched in 2016 to provide a means for SME business, previously thought uneconomic for London underwriters, to be written in Lloyd’s.

“These latest Opal numbers show a very solid performance for 2020 and clearly point the direction of travel for electronic trading in the London market,” said Tom Squires, AEGIS London’s head of digital trading.

He added: “Lockdown has added impetus to our drive to bring smaller-ticket business to London online, where it's most economical to underwrite. The challenge will come once lockdown ends. Then we’ll find out if we’ve added sufficient value to make the e-trading route more attractive than the traditional analogue alternative. These growth stats suggest that we have.”

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