The Bermuda insurance market writes £25 billion of business, which makes it more than half the size of the dominant London market, now at a “tipping point” with its position “under threat,” according to a just-released study reported in the London Market Group’s online publication LMG.

The numbers were reported by LMG and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) which have published the results of market research into commercial insurance and reinsurance.

The study included more than 300 interviews with customers and market participants around the globe.

It stated: “The report — ‘London matters: the competitive position of the London insurance market’ — addresses the current status and future prospects of the market and reveals that London’s position as the undisputed global hub for commercial insurance is under threat.”

It reported: “The London Market, the largest global hub for commercial and specialty risk, reached £60 billion of gross written premium in 2013, with £45 billion of this written in London and backed by London capital. The study shows that, based on business written in London alone, the market (£45bn) is nearly double the size of Bermuda (£25bn) and Zurich (£19bn) and 11 times bigger than Singapore (£4bn).”

The authors warned: “The study’s findings are also a strong reminder of the role the London Market plays in supporting the UK economy separately and distinct form the rest of the UK insurance industry. The Market contributed £30 billion to UK GDP in 2013, which is 21 per cent of the total GDP contribution of ‘The City’ and eight per cent of total London GDP. It employs a collective 48,000 people throughout the UK and 34,000 in London alone. It also plays a role in supporting the broader global economy by paying large claims every year, including for specialist risks which are hard to cover elsewhere. A total of 94 FTSE 100 companies are covered by the London Market and in the last five years more than £140 billion in claims has been paid to policyholders.

But the 300-year-old market is at a tipping point, warn LMG and BCG.

The report states: “Analysis reveals that London is only tracking global growth in commercial insurance, while it is losing its share in reinsurance: London’s share declined from 15 percent to 13 percent between 2010 and 2013. Furthermore, London, heavily reliant on the UK, US, Australia and Canadian markets, is failing to capture the emerging market opportunity.

“Only 0.5 percent of the absolute growth in emerging market premiums in markets such as Latin America, Asia and Africa, was placed in London. Its share of the Asian insurance market, for example, is currently just two percent. More than half of future growth will come from emerging markets, meaning that London’s global leadership will become increasingly challenged.”