Had anyone contended at the beginning of last year that Lloyd's premium signed business in Canada would increase by 25% in 2004, Nicholas Smith, attorney in fact in Canada for Lloyd's Underwriters, would have thought that a rather outlandish projection. Lloyd's of London's global capacity was essentially flat in 2004, an appropriate response to the onset of an almost universally softening market. And, not to put too fine a point on it, given the additional and not insignificant regulatory and funding burdens a carrier such as Lloyd's faces in Canada, business has to perform better than in other parts of the world in order to compensate for the capital and solvency costs. Lloyd's Canadian income rose to Cdn$1.2 billion for 2004 - breaking the billion dollar barrier for the first time. Growth in Lloyd's Canadian premiums has clearly been fuelled by a rising demand for capacity among Canadian businesses.

Property & casualty insurance
Demand