The ongoing commitment of Lloyd’s – the world’s leading marketplace for insurance and reinsurance – to foster a more inclusive and high-performing culture is yielding demonstratable results. Recently published findings from the 2025 Lloyd’s Market Policies and Practices (MP&P) provides a clear overview of the advancements being made across the market.

Now in its sixth iteration, this analysis underscores the collective efforts of companies operating within Lloyd’s to establish environments where diverse talent is not only attracted but also empowered to excel.

The Venquis marketing team sat down with Benjamin Walker, Senior Consultant, to discuss the data, which reveals encouraging progress in areas such as gender balance, ethnic diversity and the implementation of practices designed to promote genuine inclusivity to maximise the potential of the workforce – all crucial elements for Lloyd’s sustained success!

Building a future of inclusivity and talent ambition at Lloyd’s

A significant aspect of the progress highlighted in the 2025 MP&P return is the continued improvement in gender representation throughout the Lloyd’s market. The proportion of women in the total workforce has experienced a positive incline, reaching 44%.

“This steady growth reflects the sustained emphasis on attracting and retaining talented women within the insurance and reinsurance sectors,” says Benjamin. “Equally, the representation of women in leadership roles has also seen a notable increase, not standing at 36%.”

This advancement is evident across all levels of leadership, with women comprising:

• 27% of boards
• 31% of executive committees
• 38% of direct reports to executive committees.

These figures, derived from a workforce encompassing approximately 63,000 people, illustrate a discernible trend towards a more gender-balanced leadership within the Lloyd’s market. Reinforcing this positive trajectory is the fact that 45% of all new hires in 2024 were women. This indicates a strong and ongoing commitment to integrated female talent in the industry.

“The impact of these efforts to promote inclusivity and talent ambition is also reflected in the narrowing of the Gender Pay Gap across market firms,” says Benjamin. “This has reduced to an average of 31%, which suggests that the increasing representation of women in senior positions is contributing to greater pay equity within the market.”

Increasing ethnic diversity bolsters inclusivity and talent ambition

The 2025 MP&P return also indicates meaningful progress in enhancing ethnic diversity within the Lloyd’s market. The market’s established “one in three” hiring ambition continues to prove successful, with 22% of new hires in the past year originating from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

“This upward trend is particularly evident at the early careers level,” Benjamin claims. “29% of graduates and apprentices hired in 2024 were from ethnically diverse backgrounds.”

These efforts have contributed to a significant increase in the overall representation of ethnic diversity within the market workforce, now at 14%, and a notable rise in the proportion of leaders who are ethnically diverse – which has reached 12%. Ben states:

“These figures underscore a growing commitment to building a more ethnically diverse workforce at all levels within the Lloyd’s market, thereby enriching the breadth of perspectives and experiences.”

The broader dimensions of workforce diversity

Beyond gender and ethnicity, the 2025 MP&P return offers preliminary insights into other facets of diversity. While data collection for characteristics such as disability, sexual orientation, age and social mobility is still developing, initial data does provide valuable indicators.

Currently, 2% of employees within the Lloyd’s market have disclosed a disability, long-term illness or health condition – a figure that has remained consistent. Similarly, 2% of employees have identified as LGBQT+. Age-related data reveals that 24% of the market workforce is under 30 years of age, and 52% under 40. This highlights a significant demographic of younger professionals.

Efforts to gather data on social mobility are also expanding, with an increasing number of firms collecting relevant information. While disclosure rates currently limit comprehensive reporting, these initial observations emphasise the importance of broadening access to career opportunities in insurance for individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

Recognising the fundamental importance of attracting a diverse talent pool for sustained success, firms within the Lloyd’s market are actively involved in outreach initiatives. In the past year, 78% of firms participated in market or industry-wide programs aimed at attracting talent to careers in insurance.

“These collaborative efforts are often made possible through entities such as Lloyds, the London Market Group’s Future Academy and other relevant industry associations,” Ben says. “The report shoes that 71% of firms also engage with outreach partners at an individual firm level, which further demonstrates a commitment to proactively connect with potential talent that may not traditionally consider a career in insurance.”

While the overall volume of hiring in 2024 saw a slight decrease compared to the previous year, the continued recruitment of graduates and apprentices underscores the market’s investment in future talent.

Sustained progress towards inclusivity and talent ambition at Lloyd’s

The commitment to inclusivity within the Lloyd’s market extends beyond recruitment to encompass the development of high-performance cultures where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute. Over the last year, a significant proportion of firms have invested in training and developed programs focused on fostering inclusive behaviours and psychological safety.

Specifically, 70% of firms provided inclusive behaviour training to their employees, and 65% trained their leadership teams on these crucial aspects. Additionally, 64% of companies offered training on speaking up and promoting psychological safety, acknowledging the importance of creating environments where diverse perspectives can be openly shared.

“These training initiatives are often complemented by firm-level efforts to embed inclusive behaviours through communication strategies, policy frameworks and feedback mechanisms,” Benjamin says. “Lloyd’s also actively measures inclusion through its Culture Survey to gain further insights into employee experiences.”

The findings of the 2025 Lloyd’s Market Policies and Practices return clearly demonstrate the continued and significant progress being made towards establishing a more inclusive and high performing culture. The measurable increases in gender balance across the workforce, and at all levels of leadership, coupled with the steady advancement in ethnic diversity underscore the positive impact of ongoing initiatives – and the dedication of market firms.

“The growing adoption of inclusive hiring practices and the widespread provision of training focused on inclusive behaviours and psychological safety further reinforce this positive trajectory,” says Benjamin. “While acknowledging the ongoing nature of this type of work, the data presented in this year’s MP&P return offers a really interesting narrative of a market actively striving to attract talent from all communities and cultivate environments where ambition can be realised.

“It’s initiatives like this that will secure Lloyd’s long-term success and continue its position as a premier destination for global talent. Working within the Lloyd’s market at Venquis, we can see first-hand the sustained focus on embedding cultural awareness, developing underwriting talent and strategically targeted outreach programs.

“This collective commitment to inclusivity and talent ambition positions the Lloyd’s market for continued growth, innovation and relevance in an increasingly diverse and interconnected global landscape – I’m incredibly proud of the work they are doing, which enables me and my team to follow their lead!”

If you’re a company operating with the Lloyd’s market looking to hire top talent – or if you are that top talent considering a career in the insurance and/or reinsurance market, reach out to Venquis today.