Here’s how the City competes in an unpredictable world
In a volatile world so full of shared, increasingly complex challenges – from conflict in Europe and the Middle East and contested trade routes to the rapid development of technology – it’s vital that we strengthen existing friendships, build new partnerships, and relentlessly seek opportunities to collaborate, says Susan Langley
How will the City compete in a more unpredictable world?
That is the backdrop against which I travel to Monaco this week for the Rendez-Vous de Septembre, the insurance industry’s great annual gathering, where professionals from some 90 countries convene not around a casino table or a grid start-line, but around the harder business of managing risk in an increasingly unstable world. To outsiders, Monaco means the Monte Carlo Casino, superyachts and Formula One. To those of us in insurance, it means something else entirely: a barometer of how the world’s risk-takers are reading the geopolitical weather.
It’s also the perfect place to engage with the international insurance industry and showcase the London Market and all the things we do so well. Indeed, when the world gets risky, London is where it comes.
I’ve written about those unique, undeniable strengths for City AM before, as well as the fantastic opportunities a career in the sector can offer. And throughout my time as Lady Mayor we’ve been seeking opportunities to promote them, both at home through events like our inaugural Global Risk Summit in May, and during the course of my many international visits abroad. Later this week, I’ll be travelling to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore, with my ASEAN trip having a strong insurance focus. We’re keen to explore how the London Market’s capacity and expertise can assist in underwriting the risks attached to projects like the ASEAN Power Grid and other infrastructure initiatives.
In such a volatile world so full of shared, increasingly complex challenges – from conflict in Europe and the Middle East and contested trade routes to the rapid development of technology – it’s vital that we look outwards like this. That we strengthen existing friendships, build new partnerships, and relentlessly seek opportunities to collaborate. Because history has taught us time and again that progress is built on cooperation – that resilience is forged through partnership. In fact, I believe our success in the years ahead won’t be determined by those challenges we face, but how we respond to them. Whether we turn inward, or reach outward. Whether we act alone, or together.
Of course, that ethos of openness lies at the heart of my international engagements. It’s why all Lord and Lady Mayor’s spend around 100 days of the year abroad as an ambassador for our financial and professional services sector. But when I speak about that need to look out – to look at things afresh, to build new relationships – I mean here, on our own doorstep, too.
Connecting capital to oppotunity
As I said when I took over the reins for this role last November, every part of my mayoralty would be driven by a single motivation: to connect capital to opportunity, both human and financial. That means making sure more people have access to the amazing opportunities the City provides, including those from less advantaged backgrounds. It means making the workplace more inclusive, including for women, who remain underrepresented across both business and public life. Just this week, we’re hosting an exciting “Women Who Lead” panel at Mansion House with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Sue Carr, and the Cabinet Secretary, Dame Antonia Romero, to inspire the next generation of female leaders.
And it involves identifying new ways of working – convening investors, government, and industry – to ensure we remain agile to the problems of the here and now (and yes, the future too), utilising the full power and expertise of our world-leading FPS sector. On Wednesday, we’ll be holding our latest Scale Up Showcase event, bringing the best of British defence and dual use innovations together with the investors and customers who can help it scale.
I have little over two months left as Lady Mayor. Over the next 60-odd days, this will remain my mission: to look outwards. Outwards to new partnerships. Outwards to new markets. And outwards to new talent.
Dame Susan Langley is Lady Mayor of the City of London