Lloyd's of London has named Inga Beale as its chief executive,making her the first female CEO in the market's 325 yearhistory.

Beale takes up her position in January 2014, replacing Richard Ward, Lloyd's longest-running CEO, who is resigning atthe end of this year.

“Lloyd's is already an international leader, but this uniquemarket has an extraordinary opportunity to increase its footprintand to cement its position as the global hub for specialistinsurance and reinsurance,” says Beale.

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Lloyd's chairman John Nelson says he “absolutely delighted” tohave Beale as chief executive.

“She has 30 years' experience in the insurance industry,” hesays. “Her CEO experience, underwriting background, internationalexperience and operational skills, together with her knowledge ofthe Lloyd's market, make Inga the ideal chief executive forLloyd's.”

Beale began her insurance career as an underwriter withPrudential prior to a decade-long tenure with GE InsuranceSolutions, where she worked in the U.K., Europe and theU.S. She held executive positions with Converium and Zurich inSwitzerland, and was most recently group CEO of Lloyd's managingagent, Canopius Group Ltd.

She was a keynote speaker at the Insurance Industry CharitableFoundation's (IICF) Women in Insurance global conference in June2013. According to a study released at the conference, women hold only 6% of top executive positions among insuranceand reinsurance companies.

Lloyd's reported a nearly 5% increase in gross written premiumin the first half of 2013, although profit dropped slightly due to low investment yields.