The first fully electronic placement via iPad and the Message Exchange in the London insurance market was made today.

Direct and facultative director of broker BMS, Steve Knight, met with Catlin Syndicate’s Michael Davern at their box in Lloyd's today and within minutes had refined and placed a contract using the RI3K platform on an iPad.

This technological advancement marks a significant step forward for the very traditional London insurance market.

BMS has been working with Lloyd’s on its iPad initiative, alongside the Qatarlyst owned RI3K, to integrate the implementation of the new technology within the London market. BMS is using RI3K and the iPad to establish the ideal electronic trading platform for the London market.

Commenting on the development, Knight said, “The introduction of the iPad allows us to maintain the hugely important tradition of face to face contact in the London market. There was a concern that this would be lost with increased use of electronic placing. Now we have the initiative and tools which mean we can retain the contact whilst making the whole process exponentially more efficient.

“No longer will brokers have to shoulder heavy briefcases of files over to Lloyd’s, they can be nimble and flexible with only 1.6lbs of iPad, which is all they really need in the market. Business can happen anywhere; using this system, a contract can be created on the train on the way to work or over a coffee. It has changed the way we work dramatically.”

RI3K’s Market Place Director, Robin Merttens said: “BMS are the first to have grasped the power of RI3K and an iPad. Their brokers don't feel threatened by the technology but empowered by it. They now carry around an e-slipcase loaded with all their placing information and by email and integration are connected to the people and systems they need to access. So now they can spend more time on face to face negotiations and value added services while the technology does the rest.

"It also makes the acquisition of RI3K by Qatarlyst look well-timed. With the long term financial support they give us we can now spend time with Lloyd’s and the other reformists leveraging this approach to increase the volume of endorsements and then placement messages destined for the Exchange.”

Davern added, “At Catlin we strive to make life easier for brokers. Placing risks via an iPad promises to add both speed and flexibility to the traditional broker-underwriter relationship. Technological advancements like this optimise the way in which the market works.”

BMS, alongside Lloyd’s and RI3K, are trading using a sustainable, developed business model with widespread use of the technology which has been fully integrated into business and systems processes. In the past electronic trading has relied on paper copies of contract information to support the process. This new step is entirely electronic.

Share Story: