Lloyd's is an insurance and reinsurance marketplace, facilitating transactions between insurance buyers and sellers. Its members operate as syndicates to provide insurance coverage for businesses, organizations, and individuals. The syndicates specialize in different types of risks, and each syndicate determines which risks to insure.
Lloyd's brokers bring business into the markets from clients and other brokers and intermediaries worldwide. It operates as a partially mutualized marketplace consisting of multiple financial backers, grouped into syndicates, which pool and spread risks. Underwriting capacity is channeled into the Lloyd's market through individual syndicates, which function as insurance companies that offer a specific type of insurance. Each syndicate is supported by capital provided by members of Lloyd’s.
More than one syndicate can participate in an insurance contract, thereby spreading the risk among multiple syndicates. The syndicates include insurance buyers, brokers, managing agents, and coverholders.
The Association of British Insurers is a trade association that represents over 400 insurance companies, which together transact about 96% of U.K. insurance company business. The association provides members with information and technical and statistical services, and represents their interests to a number of different organisations, including government, Parliament and regulatory bodies.
The International Underwriting Association provides research, information, education and training for its members. It also represents members' interests to governments and regulators worldwide as well as serving as liaison with other financial services bodies. The IUA was formed through the merger of the London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association and the Institute of London Underwriters.