Brit names Mark Allan as CEO of Ki, the algorithmic Lloyd’s syndicate

Brit has appointed Mark Allan as chief executive officer of Ki, the first fully digital and algorithmically-driven Lloyd’s of London syndicate.

Allan has led the development of Ki over the last 18 months alongside Matthew Wilson, Brit’s chief executive officer. He has been chief financial officer at Brit Group and executive director at Brit since 2015, following roles as chief risk officer and director of strategy when he joined Brit in 2010.

He is now responsible for building the business and realising Ki’s strategy but retains his role as group executive director at Brit and responsibility for strategy and oversight of the group’s third-party capital vehicles, including Syndicate 2988 and Sussex Capital.

Brit is now looking for a new group chief financial officer to succeed Allan.

Ki was launched in collaboration with Brit and Google Cloud and was first announced in May 2020. It intends to significantly reduce the amount of time taken for brokers to place their follow capacity.

Ki’s algorithm, developed with support from University College London, will evaluate Lloyd’s policies and automatically quote for business through an always available digital platform accessed directly by brokers.

Ki has also appointed James Birch as development director and Alan Tua as portfolio director, both reporting to Allan. Birch continues as head of innovation at Brit, while Tua joins from Direct Line Group where he was head of analytics and data science. He is responsible for developing Ki’s underwriting algorithm.

Ki also recently appointed Dan Hearsum as managing director. He was previously head of placement in London at Marsh.

Wilson said Ki has the potential to transform the Lloyd’s market and the wider insurance industry. “[Allan] has played a fundamental role in the development of this vision since day one,” he said.

Allan stressed that Ki had the support of Google Cloud, Brit and Lloyd’s behind the initiative. “Ki’s launch marks a pivotal point in the digital transformation of our industry,” he added. “We have built Ki with the latest technology and a vision of providing a seamless follow capacity to our broker partners. The benefits of this transformative business model are dramatic and will enable follow business to be placed with ease. This is a true step-change for Lloyd’s.”