Once the backbone of Lloyd's, names still playing a key role.

When Lloyd's Chairman Peter Levene appeared before the recent conference of the Association of Lloyd's Members, he told them their"commitment to Lloyd's is as valued as it is vital."

The association represents Names, the private capital providers that once were the core of the Lloyd's market. The reorganization of Lloyd's, following disastrous losses in the United States, brought in the corporate capital that now dominates the market. Recent developments have brought new interest in Lloyd's from potential providers of capital. Edward Vale, a consultant with the London-based Association of Lloyd's Members, puts the share of private capital at Lloyd's at -1.5 billion (-2.93 billion), or 16% of the total.

Vale said there is more interest in Lloyd's among potential private investors than there has been for more than 10 years.

"They're back in the sense that there is an acceptance and a contentment at Lloyd's with private capital," he said.

While the proportion of Names-backed capital has declined amid a growing Lloyd's market in recent years, Vale said, the capacity they provide has remained stable since 2005, the year of Hurricane Katrina. While the overall insurance market took a battering that year, he said, Names did relatively well. That result Vale said, demonstrated that there had been a clean break by Hoyd's with the past.

The Names who are writing in Lloyd's these days, Vale said, have "the right amount of wealth and liquidity and they're content with some very good results recently."

This picture contrasts with the bitterness and litigation that swept through the market after many Names, who were then subject to unlimited liability, faced enormous losses from U.S. asbestos and pollution claims. The reorganization that brought in the corporate capital also introduced the principle of limited liability.

"The members' agents actually have a pretty good story to sell for the first time for 10 or 15 years or more," Vale said.

Capital Sources:

Individual members with both
limited and unlimited liability
contributed 15% of Lloyd's
capital in 2008.

Individual         6%
Members
(unlimited
liability)

Worldwide         14%
Insurance
Industry

Bermudian          9%
Insurance
Industry

U.S.              15%
Insurance
Industry

U.K. Insurance    47%
Industry and
Other Corporate

Individual        9%
Members
(limited
liability)

Source: Lloyd's