CEO Agenda 2026: Corporate & Specialty
9 November, 2025
From Strength to Strategy: Navigating the Next Phase of the Market
We are pleased to release our CEO Agenda for 2026 – a must-read for executive teams looking to gain strategic advantage over the next 12 months.
After a rewarding period of strong profitability, the Lloyd’s and London Market is entering a new, more challenging chapter. The clear sign? Rates are softening, and the hard market advantage is fading unevenly across different business classes.
The dynamic has changed. Capital is still plentiful, new players are eager, and brokers are leveraging capacity. However, the legacy of higher rates is wearing off, meaning volatility – driven by macro-economic and environmental pressures – will be the defining feature of the coming years.
The new reality: opportunity for the nimble
This isn’t a moment for complacency; it’s a moment for strategic recalibration. The most successful firms won’t be those clinging to past gains, it will be those who can harness data, adapt swiftly, and maintain absolute strategic clarity.
Our analysis points to a critical window over the next 12 months where executive focus must shift from maximizing rate increases to building sustainable, adaptive capabilities.
Key shifts executives must prepare for:
- Strategic focus: The market is splitting between digital innovators and traditional players. Clarity on your core proposition is non-negotiable to avoid being squeezed out
- Decision quality: Thinner margins mean decision-making pressure is intense. Leaders must move beyond intuition, embedding bias-aware, data-driven processes to stress-test resilience
- Operational efficiency: Expense ratios, which seemed manageable during the boom, now risk revealing underlying structural flaws. Flexibility and adaptability in operating models will be key differentiators
- Strategic growth: With organic growth slowing, inorganic strategies (M&A) will ramp up, but success hinges on flawless integration
The environment demands stronger leadership, sharper focus, and a commitment to transformation. Those who act now to build this future-proof foundation will gain a significant, lasting advantage as the market cycle continues to evolve.
About the author
Greg Brown is a Partner at Oxbow Partners. He leads engagements on digital, operational, and technology strategy and transformation. He spends most of his time in the Lloyd’s and London Market and European retail insurance. Graduating with a degree in Engineering and Computer Science, Greg has a strong technical background which allows him to give his clients confidence in the feasibility of their strategic choices. CEOs often rely on Greg to look through the hype and advise them on the relevance of technical trends. Topics where Greg’s range of experience comes together include digitisation in the London Market and the impact of Lloyd’s Blueprint 2, strategic choices available to syndicates around the bifurcation of lead/follow, and using technology as a vehicle to drive underwriting transformation. Greg is a regular commentator on transformation and digital topics, and often speaks at industry events.
