2025 SBAI at Lloyds: Perspectives on the History & Future of Insurance, & its Role in Investor Portfolios

Dr Adrian Leonard

Principal, Strategic Insurance Communications

A communications specialist, writer, and historian with more than 30 years' experience supporting clients in the commercial insurance sector.

His career combines journalism, academia, and commercial writing, most of it focused on insurance. He has advised companies from Amlin to Zurich Re. He was News Editor of Insurance Day, Press Officer at the London International Insurance & Reinsurance Market Association (LIRMA, later the International Underwriting Association, or IUA), and Editor of Reuters' daily 'Insurance Glimpse'.

Meanwhile, he is probably the world's leading historian of marine insurance. He is editor of the only international, academic history of marine insurance (cleverly entitled Marine Insurance; Palgrave Macmillan 2016), and his book London Marine Insurance 1438-1824: Risk, Trade and the Early Modern State reveals the fascinating early histories of British insurance and Lloyd's of London. According to the Journal of British Studies, the book "will represent the standard work on the development of marine insurance for some time to come."

Rachel Turk

Chief of Market Performance, Lloyd's

Rachel joined Lloyd’s in November 2023 as Chief Underwriting Officer, responsible for the performance management function at Lloyd’s, which encompasses underwriting, pricing, exposure management & aggregation, outwards reinsurance, delegated authority, and claims. She took on the role of Chief of Market Performance in June 2025.

Rachel has over 20 years of experience in financial services. During almost 15 years at Beazley PLC, she held a variety of roles, most recently as Group Head of Strategy, where she delivered a number of significant projects, including the development of a new strategy and associated medium-term plan, and establishing the sustainability function. She also led the business planning process on behalf of the Group, and ran the Lloyd’s wholesale management committee with additional responsibility for APAC. Rachel has significant underwriting experience in US Directors & Officers liability with a particular focus on primary layers on technology risks. Prior to joining Beazley, Rachel worked as an Equity Analyst for JP Morgan Cazenove, covering European small & mid-cap media & internet equities, and is also a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Thomas Deinet

Executive Director, SBAI

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the SBAI (previously known as the HFSB) in 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the working group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by 14 leading international alternative investment managers that led to the establishment of the SBAI.

Prior to joining the SBAI, he was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe covering asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. Thomas also worked as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a graduate of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, with a major in industrial engineering and holds an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas is a CFA charterholder.