Lloyd’s CEO, Inga Beale, is to step down in 2019 after a five-year tenure at the helm of the Corporation.

Inga joined Lloyd’s at the beginning of 2014, becoming the market’s first ever female chief executive in its now 332-year history.

Lloyd’s applauded her commitment to transformation across the market since then, and within the Corporation, which it said had led to significant cultural change and the adoption of new technology that has accelerated the market’s modernisation and digitalisation.

Beale has also been a strong advocate of improving diversity and inclusion across the global (re)insurance sector, founding initiatives such as Inclusion@Lloyd’s in 2013, which is now celebrated annually via the Dive in festival.

Before being named Lloyd’s CEO, Beale was previously group chief executive of Canopius. Prior to that, she spent four years with Zurich Insurance Group as global chief underwriting officer. Beale has also held senior roles at Swiss reinsurer Converium and GE Insurance Solutions, having started her career at Prudential.

“Inga will leave Lloyd’s with a strengthened reputation as one of the most respected and trusted insurance brands in the world, with a strong and experienced leadership team focused on delivering Lloyd’s strategic priorities,” the Corporation said in a statement.

News of her departure comes just a year after Bruce Carnegie-Brown was appointed chairman, and months after Lloyd’s reported a pre-tax loss of £2bn for 2017 that was partly fuelled by heavy natural catastrophe losses in the US and Caribbean.

Beale said that the decision to leave had been a tough one, and that she would “miss the energy, innovative spirit and expertise that I come across every working day.”

“Leading Lloyd’s is an honour and I am proud to have played a part in ensuring that it remains relevant and fit for purpose for the future. The world trusts Lloyd’s to be there when it matters the most and I believe it is well placed for the next 330 years,” she said.

Meanwhile, Carnegie-Brown said: “In her five years at Lloyd’s, Inga has set in motion a series of changes aimed at modernising the market and making it more efficient and inclusive.

“Her boldness and persistence have generated the momentum required to bring about real change. I have very much enjoyed working with Inga, and I am grateful for the support she has given me in my first year as chairman.”

Lloyd’s said that Beale’s departure date was yet to be confirmed, and that a search for her successor was under way.