Lloyd's of London hires Deloitte to review strategy

LONDON (Reuters) - The Lloyd's of London insurance market has hired consultants Deloitte to help it with a strategic review aimed at helping it exploit opportunities opened up by the global financial crisis.

The overhaul goes beyond Lloyd's annual review of its rolling three-year plan, introduced in 2005, and will consider whether the market has the optimal product mix and geographical balance for the post-crisis world, a Lloyd's spokeswoman said on Friday.

Conclusions of the review will be published in January next year.

The global financial meltdown has slashed investment returns, hurting insurers' profitability, while the industry's competitive landscape has been altered by the near-collapse last September of American International Group.

Lloyd's, which traces its origins back 321 years to a London coffee house where wealthy merchants met to insure ships, suffered a 50 percent drop in its profits last year because of hefty hurricane-related losses and weaker investment returns.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan, editing by Will Waterman)