Time Warp in London

Walk down Lime Street in London, it will shock you.

All around you will see progress, old buildings torn down in favor of modern architecture.

But don't look up for too long or you will bump into a broker carrying armfuls of paper. Literally folders and folders of new policies or changes to existing policies, or if it's an attractive, young female broker, odds are that she'll be carrying a claim to Lloyd's.

The fact that this market still processes trades by paper is just incredible to me. The stock market has been clearing trades electronically for decades, and in the mid-'90s I was part of a team at Bloomberg that helped fund managers trade bonds online.

"Market Reform" is a key initiative of Richard Ward's and there is much progress Web Connectivity is a leading agent for change. Advisen invested in Web Connectivity and is helping to take their ACORD messaging gateway to Bermuda and the US.