The Inclusive Futures initiative aims to create meaningful and lasting change by supporting Black and ethnically diverse individuals from education to executive leadership. The programme’s initiatives were developed based on feedback from over 250 Black and ethnically diverse colleagues within the Lloyd’s market, along with insights from experts in finance, academia, and diversity and inclusion.
The Coalition consists of eight market firms: Arch, AXA XL, Beazley, Chubb, Hiscox, Howden, MS Amlin, and Tokio Marine Kiln; and three delivery partners: Equity, Green Park, and the Lloyd’s of London Foundation.
The Coalition will fund and enable Inclusive Futures’ three flagship initiatives:
§ Higher education bursaries: Starting in September 2024, the Lloyd’s of London Foundation – in partnership with the Cowrie Foundation and Black Heart Foundation – will provide bursaries for hundreds of Black and ethnically diverse students undertaking degrees in disciplines aligned to risk and insurance. Applications will open in early summer 2024 via lloyds.com.
§ Early careers talent pool: The Coalition will work with market diversity firm Equity to create a talent pool of top-quality early careers and entry-level talent from Black and ethnically diverse backgrounds. These individuals will have undertaken pre-assessment, Lloyd’s market familiarisation and assessment, and interview coaching.
§ Board talent pool: Run by specialist headhunters and talent advisory firm Green Park, the talent pool for Board-level candidates will map and equip Black and ethnically diverse candidates to be ready for executive and ‘executive minus one’ roles in the market. Founding partners of the Coalition will have priority access to these candidates alongside executive search consultancy services. Market mapping around five areas of Board succession began in June 2024.
These initiatives will be connected to amentoring and sponsorshipprogramme, launching in September 2024 and managed by Lloyd’s, to connect bursary recipients and individuals from the early careers talent pool with sponsors from founding member firms. Lloyd’s will provide regular updates on these initiatives to share the impact they are having.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Chairman of Lloyd’s, said: “Lloyd’s launched Inclusive Futures to make our market and society more inclusive. We are now expanding our ambition for what we can achieve by launching the Inclusive Futures Coalition, harnessing the capabilities of our market and delivery partners to increase the impact of the programme to deliver lasting change.”
Junior Garba, CEO of Equity, also commented, saying: “Equity is honoured to collaborate with Lloyd’s and our fellow coalition members to foster a more inclusive and diverse marketplace. By investing in initiatives that support Black and ethnically diverse talent, we are taking concrete steps to ensure diversity is woven into the fabric of our industry. Our role in developing the early careers talent pool is crucial in ensuring that the next generation of leaders reflects the rich diversity of our society, bringing fresh perspectives and driving innovation within the industry.”
Raj Tulsiani, CEO and Founder of Green Park, said: “Green Park is proud to be the executive search delivery partner of the Inclusive Futures initiative, bringing over 17 years of experience in changing the face and composition of leadership teams. Our data, insights and experience tell us there is still much work to be done to achieve equity of opportunity at leadership and pipeline level for those from diverse backgrounds, but insurance has rarely been as an attractive industry as it is now.
“We are delighted to see the commitment from the coalition members partnering with us to sustainably attract and retain transformational talent from all backgrounds, based on performance and culture, to company boards.”
“We are proud to be part of this pioneering initiative to attract, retain and develop diverse talent in our industry, ” said Hugh Sturgess, CEO of Arch Insurance International. “Creating more opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds benefits everyone, as it brings together individuals with varied experiences and backgrounds to spark new ideas, improve decision making and ensure we are drawing from the widest talent pools.”
Andrew Carrier, CEO of MS Amlin, added: “Ethnicity should never be a barrier to success. By widening opportunity from the classroom to the boardroom, we can create a more diverse marketplace, and an industry that is truly representative of the communities we serve, both domestically and internationally. Supporting Inclusive Futures is a cornerstone investment for us, working with our coalition partners to create a better, fairer more representative marketplace.”
