Lloyd`s of London, the insurance market that covers risks from oil rigs to soccer stars` legs, has appointed former QBE Insurance Group boss John Neal as chief executive.

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Neal, who began his insurance career as a Lloyd`s underwriter in 1985, will take over from the commercial insurance market`s first female CEO, Inga Beale.

The June announcement of Beale`s departure came amid concerns that Lloyd`s was losing ground to rival centres such as Singapore and failing to stem losses.

The venerable insurance market that began life in Edward Lloyd`s coffee house in 1688 endured a tough 2017, racking up a 2 billion pound loss after a series of natural disasters.

An immediate priority for Neal, who left Australian insurer QBE last year after more than five years at the helm, will be the launch of a Brussels subsidiary to enable Lloyd`s to continue serving its customers in the European Economic Area after Britain leaves the European Union, Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said in a statement.

Last month Lloyd`s said that the head of its Brexit operations, Vincent Vandendael, was leaving to join Everest Insurance.

The market`s Brussels subsidiary is due to start operating by January 2019.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)