Lloyd’s of London today announced that Chief Executive Officer Inga Beale will step down next year after leading the global insurance and reinsurance market for five years. An exact departure date has not yet been set.

Beale joined Lloyd’s in January 2014, succeeding CEO Richard Ward and becoming the first woman to serve as CEO. She joined with three decades of international insurance and reinsurance experience. Prior to joining Lloyd’s, she had been group chief executive of Canopius, a Lloyd’s managing agent. Prior to that she spent four years with Zurich Insurance, including a period as global chief underwriting officer. She joined Zurich after having served as group CEO of Converium, the Swiss mid-sized independent reinsurance company, where she led a turnaround before it was acquired by SCOR in 2007. Beale started her career as an underwriter with Prudential before spending 14 years in a variety of international roles for GE Insurance Solutions.

“The decision to leave has been a tough one and when the time comes I will 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,” Beale said in prepared remarks.

During her tenure, Beale has emphasized streamlining Lloyd’s through technology and ending paper trading by the end of 2019. She has also advocated for more attention to emerging markets for growth and more diversity in the industry’s employment ranks.

She leaves Lloyd’s as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. Under Beale, Lloyd’s won approval to open a Brussels outpost as part of operating in a post-Brexit economy.

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chairman at Lloyd’s, said that in her five years at Lloyd’s, Beale 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.”

In 2015, Beale was named as one of six outstanding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) executive role models in the insurance industry by the London-based LGBT business organization OUTstanding and Financial Times. She has also been honored by Saint Joseph’s University’s Academy of Risk Management and Insurance in Philadelphia as the first woman to receive its Insurance Executive of the Year Award.

Beale was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017 for her service to the economy.

In May, Lloyd’s announced that John Parry, chief financial officer, is also leaving after 17 years with the organization.

In 2017, Lloyd’s saw a pre-tax loss of £2 billion (US$2.8 billion) that was partly due to hurricanes and wildfires in the third and fourth quarters. But these losses were exacerbated by the continued deterioration in its attritional, or non-catastrophe losses – brought about primarily by price deterioration in a competitive marketplace.