In all the recent debate about London's future position as a global financial centre, one important protagonist has been largely ignored. Thousands of column inches have been lavished on the incentives appropriate to private equity and hedge fund managers. But little is heard about the incentives needed to hold on to the Lloyd's underwriter.

The silence may seem understandable. Did not Lloyd's just return a profit for 2007 of £3.8bn? While JPMorgan estimates that the UK banking sector may ultimately lose as many as 40,000 jobs because of the credit crunch, the London insurance market appears to be sitting pretty.