At the Lloyd's of London "Meet the Market" event in SanFrancisco on Oct. 7, CEO Inga Beale discussed the firm's history inthe Golden City as well as local risks and innovations in heropening speech to attendees—which included Lloyd's syndicates,coverholders and MGAs. She later sat down with NationalUnderwriter P&C's managing editor Melissa Hillebrand foran exclusive Q&A.

Melissa Hillebrand: I wanted to discussthe Lloyd's City Risk Index, which analyzes the potentialeconomic impact of 18 natural and man-made threatson more than 300 worldwide cities. How long didthis project take to implement? How do you see brokers or riskmanagers using this new resource?

Inga Beale: It took three years to puttogether, based off of the work from a lot of researchers. What wewant to do—and it's not just about scaring everybody—it's aboutencouraging a dialogue, and recognition that the risks arechanging. And so it's not just risk managers, brokers andbusinesses, but we also want to have dialogue with governments. AndI actually have had some interest from city councils who have said,"We never thought about this aspect, or this affecting our citybefore." That's what we really want to spark, to have people starthaving a dialogue of "Oh gosh, these are the threats out there.What do we need to do to build resilience into our cities, ourbusinesses, and how can insurance help?"