Commercial property

XPT Specialty eyes property growth after recruiting CRC veteran Martincich

XPT Specialty has bolstered its property practice roster with the hire of market veteran Michele Martincich to lead the unit.

CRC REDY: E&S property pricing rehardens in November and December

Anecdotal evidence of a meaningful acceleration in E&S property pricing increases through the last couple of months of 2022 has been proven out in the latest REDY Index data from broker CRC Group, with the firm warning adjustments to terms and conditions and pricing should accelerate through 2023.

ALIRT warns surplus risk for unrated carrier used by James Allen “remains high”

A financial analysis undertaken by ALIRT Insurance Research has shown that the capacity provider for Indiana-based MGU James Allen’s commercial property program has never earned an underwriting profit in its history and that the risk of insufficient capitalization “remains high”.

RLI pulls out of energy excess casualty but grows in property

RLI has exited energy excess casualty business as part of a broader retrenchment from liability classes in that industry segment as the specialty insurer also highlighted growth in property where “disorderly market conditions” and higher reinsurance costs will fuel further rate increases.

B&W: E&S casualty capacity readily available but “story is different” for property

In a 2023 outlook, wholesaler Burns & Wilcox has identified shifting dynamics that include capacity being plentiful for casualty and professional lines, but constrained for property.

Axa XL names Lee head of E&S property

Axa XL has named Christopher Lee as its new head of E&S property with the carrier looking internally to fill the role that has been vacant since Kyle Burnett left to join Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in April.

Lexington adds depth with ex-Swiss Re CorSo E&S property head Pippin

Lexington Insurance Company has strengthened its property team with the hire of Darrell Pippin, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ former head of E&S property North America, The Insurer can reveal.

CRC REDY property index shows double digit increases continued in December

E&S property renewal pricing was up 10.7 percent based on CRC’s latest REDY index as the wholesaler highlighted some of the ongoing issues impacting dynamics in the sector.

Beazley appoints McCarthy interim E&S head following Morrello’s exit

Beazley has appointed Tom McCarthy as its interim head of E&S with the company considering the structure of its team in the wake of Joe Morrello’s departure to Arch Insurance, The Insurer has learned.

US cat-focused MGAs seek new capacity as carriers retrench

AmRisc and ICAT are among several of the larger cat-focused US property MGAs seeking new capacity for 2022 as a number of carriers including Scor, QBE and Hiscox retrench by either cutting back their participation or exiting programs, accelerating hard market conditions, The Insurer can reveal.

Chubb appoints Meyer and Booker to property leadership roles

Chubb has promoted Bob Meyer and Matt Booker to leadership positions in its North America property business unit and Westchester wholesale excess and surplus lines division, respectively.

ProSight set for pivot to specialty verticals model under new ownership

Newly taken private ProSight Global is creating a vertical structure largely focused on the specialty E&S market that will include the build out of property, primary/excess casualty and professional lines offerings and addition of senior underwriting executives to run them, The Insurer understands.

Orchid partner CrossCover enters E&S property market

CrossCover Insurance Services, an MGU targeting middle market commercial business established in partnership with Orchid Underwriters Agency, will begin writing middle market, E&S property business this month.

Aspen hires Spain to lead Atlanta E&S property

Aspen has hired Nigel Spain to lead its Atlanta excess and surplus lines (E&S) property team with the new arrival making the move from GuideOne, The Insurer has learned.

Arch adds Lexington’s Wicker to E&S property team

Arch Insurance Group has hired Rebecca Wicker from Lexington as regional vice president of E&S property for the central and south central regions.

Axis Insurance adds four underwriters to E&S property team

Axis Insurance has hired four senior underwriters within its US excess and surplus property team.

US real estate and hab rate push to last “well into 2021”: AmWINS

US real estate and habitational carriers are obtaining rate increases of up to 17.5 percent for clean accounts, while E&S submissions in this sector may grow further as Covid-related closures lead to more building vacancies, according to AmWINS.

New capacity is increasing competition on property E&S deals: RPS

The challenging E&S property market conditions for insureds will likely continue into early 2022 despite increased competition coming in from new capacity, RPS has reported.

Fac writers and Bermuda step in as property writers retrench: CRC

Rate increases in the US property market as existing markets retrench are attracting new carriers and facilities as well as capacity from facultative reinsurance, alternative capital and Bermudians looking to fill gaps in placements, according to CRC.

Firm real estate and hab market to extend into 2021: AmWINS

Multi-family placements in the real estate and habitational space are requiring more carriers to fill layers and seeing rate increases of up to 40 percent on loss-affected property accounts, while a dramatic cutback in excess casualty capacity is driving pricing to a level that is a “difficult pill to swallow” for insureds.