Through the long hard run the E&S sector has enjoyed in recent years, there has been limited M&A activity among carriers. Perhaps more surprisingly, there have also been very few true new balance sheet entrants, despite the attractive market conditions.

Howden’s alleged raid on Marsh last week has eaten up plenty of column inches (or pixels) already, as the London-based intermediary pursues ambitious plans to build a sizeable U.S. retail platform ahead of a planned IPO.

The dramatic swelling in size of the E&S market is well documented, driven by the surge in submissions into the wholesale channel which has broken records year after year.

This week several hundred market executives will converge on New York City for our back-to-back E&S Insurer and Program Manager conferences and awards.

January's devastating California wildfires led at the time to some discussion about a potential moderating influence on E&S property rate softening.

As the industry continues to count the cost of the tragic and devastating LA wildfires, demand for E&S products in California is expected to further increase after years of retrenchment by admitted carriers.

The growing volume of $10mn+ homes, fine art collections and other valuable assets destroyed by wildfires raging in and around Los Angeles means the profile and distribution of a rapidly escalating industry loss is likely to be atypical compared to other recent catastrophic events.

Analysts at rating agencies and investment banks as well as other industry sources suggest the Los Angeles wildfires will rank among the most destructive in California’s history – and will possibly be the largest ever insured loss from the peril, with JP Morgan doubling its estimate to $20bn.

It was no surprise that US casualty was one of the dominant themes of the recent Q3 earnings season.

Late last month we highlighted some of the themes that were expected to drive discussions as another record attendance descended on San Diego for the WSIA Annual Marketplace 2024.

Nothing lasts forever. The good times always end. Or so conventional wisdom goes.

Five years ago, the wider US commercial P&C insurance market was in the throes of a broad firming that led to a lengthy hard environment, as carriers exercised limits shortening and an aggressive push for higher rates almost in lockstep across multiple lines.

Much of the market commentary so far in 2024 has been around shifting conditions and whether they may herald a slowdown of the significant growth seen in recent years in the E&S sector.

Property casualty leaders remain bullish about the E&S space but have noted shifting dynamics as property rate increases slow while submissions remain strong for casualty.

John Doyle’s comment on Marsh McLennan’s earnings call last week that the firm is not looking to build a third-party wholesale business at its recently launched Victor Access arm is likely to have been viewed positively by large wholesalers fearful of the broking giant’s ambitions.

Late last August, just before the WSIA Annual Marketplace, this publication highlighted the importance of "guarding the goose that laid the golden egg”, as we put it.

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.

Last summer, ahead of the WSIA Annual Marketplace, this publication raised concerns about the threat of regulatory risk for the fast-growing E&S market as its expanding role in the wider P&C industry raises its profile with lawmakers.

Buyers are facing higher rates and restrictive terms in the professional lines excess and surplus lines (E&S) market, AmWINS has reported, with the exception being the extremely competitive cyber segment.

The latest monthly REDY indexes from US wholesale giant CRC Group reveal September rate increases averaging 48.7 percent in cyber, 16.2 percent in excess/umbrella, and 12.9 percent in private D&O, with all three accelerating from August.

Lee Equity Partners' investment in Arcadian Risk Capital is an “important milestone” for the MGA and will “accelerate” its continued expansion into new lines of business and geographies, the companies said in a statement.

SiriusPoint has agreed to sell its 49% equity stake in Arcadian Risk Capital to Lee Equity Partners for $139 million but will continue to provide its paper to the John Boylan-led MGA after renewing and extending its capacity deal until the end of 2031.

Specialty insurance distributor Amwins has acquired Applied Risk Capital (ARC), a MGA focused on credit insurance for the leveraged finance market, the company said on Thursday.

South Korea’s DB Insurance has agreed to acquire Fortegra in a deal valuing the U.S. specialty carrier at around $1.65 billion, people familiar with the matter told The Insurer.

The McGowan Companies has confirmed the acquisition of insurtech digital wholesaler Limit Insurance in an announcement, after The Insurer exclusively reported the deal on Monday.

The McGowan Companies has acquired Limit Insurance, an insurtech digital wholesaler whose investors include IA Capital Group and American Family Ventures, among others.

Global Indemnity’s MGA platform is building scale across wholesale, retail and direct-to-consumer channels through organic launches, MGA acquisitions and technology integration, Penn-America Underwriters CEO Praveen Reddy and Sayata CEO Asaf Lifshitz told The Insurer this week.

CRC Group is accelerating hiring, M&A and exclusive product build-out, the firm’s CEO for Specialty and Benefits, Neil Kessler, said, alongside its largest-ever technology investment and moving into London underwriting.

Australia’s Steadfast Group has strengthened its U.S. footprint after acquiring a majority stake in MGA and wholesaler Novum Underwriting Partners LLC.

Through the long hard run the E&S sector has enjoyed in recent years, there has been limited M&A activity among carriers. Perhaps more surprisingly, there have also been very few true new balance sheet entrants, despite the attractive market conditions.

Brown & Brown has established Arrowhead Intermediaries to house wholesaler Bridge Specialty Group, Arrowhead Programs and Arrowhead Specialty, a newly formed division led by former One80 Intermediaries president Matthew Power.

Ryan Specialty paid $28.2 million in cash and $0.6 million in contingent consideration for its May acquisition of Ireland-based 360 Underwriting and approximately $70.0 million in cash plus $20.0 million in LLC common units for its July acquisition of certain assets of Portage, Michigan-based JM Wilson Corporation, the wholesale insurance broker disclosed.

South Korean insurer DB Insurance in a regulatory filing said it is considering an acquisition of Fortegra as part of its expansion strategy in the U.S.

Arcadian Risk Capital is in exclusive talks for Lee Equity Partners to buy out all or part of current backer SiriusPoint’s stake, MGA sources told The Insurer.

Korea’s DB Insurance has confirmed reports in the country that it is in negotiations to buy Fortegra but said no decision has been made on price or whether to proceed with an acquisition, despite due diligence having been completed.

Ryan Specialty has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the business of JM Wilson Corporation, a Michigan-based MGA and surplus lines broker.

Monarch E&S Insurance Services has acquired MGA and wholesale broker Market Finders, with the addition of the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based firm expanding its reach across the Southwest.

Specialty distribution platforms including MGAs and MGUs are continuing to place a strong emphasis on incubation to drive organic growth as they face an M&A environment where valuations are “through the roof” because of robust demand and a lack of supply, according to MarshBerry’s George Bucur.

Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has struck a deal to acquire Hahn Insurance Agency, based in Little Falls, New Jersey.

Bridge Specialty Group, the wholesale broking division of Brown & Brown, has acquired the assets of Mississippi-based full-service wholesale insurance brokerage Tim Parkman, Inc (TPI).

Coaction Specialty has built a tech backbone that not only underpins its path towards $1.5 billion of premium in 2025 but also gives it the flexibility to pursue acquisitions, be acquired or go public, its head of technology Ramana Narayanam said.

QuoteWell aims to become a top-tier wholesale brokerage by blending human relationships with its proprietary technology, its CEO Joey Bouchard said.

Having spent much of its first year of operation setting its foundation, Everest Evolution is now primed for growth in its core lines of business with construction firmly in focus, Stephen Buonpane has told E&S Insurer.

Zurich North America remains focused on broadening its E&S appetite beyond its historic large-account focus and further into the SME space, unit head Christopher Lewis told this publication.

MSI has pushed past $1.2 billion in premium as it scales programs, invests in claims and tech, and recalibrates wildfire underwriting after taking losses in California.

Brown & Riding chief operating officer Mike Boseman said property submissions are climbing even as pricing eases, reflecting fiercer competition across E&S distribution.

Vantage Risk is leaning on discipline in property renewals and creative use of reinsurance capacity to navigate a softening market, its head of property and ceded reinsurance Nicole Perrault said.

Elysian has its first customers on board less than a year after launch and has closed an oversubscribed seed round, its CEO Grace Hanson said.

CapSpecialty is reinforcing its commitment to the wholesale channel, its CEO Adam Sills said, prioritising speed, service and underwriting expertise to differentiate itself in a crowded E&S market.

Westfield Specialty is navigating a rapidly softening property market marked by rate deterioration, expanded capacity and tougher retention, E&S property head Andy Hendrix said.

Upland Specialty’s Shanna Sweeney said rising competition in E&S excess casualty means underwriters must provide creative structures and maintain disciplined attachments, cautioning that underlying pricing is “lost” as towers are reshuffled.

H.W. Kaufman’s Paul Greensmith and Jodie Kaufman Davis say the family-owned group has accelerated its international build-out with new leadership, harmonised systems and selective specialty growth.

Arch is preparing to extend lines, quote faster and retrain underwriters to remain indispensable on U.S. property placements as abundant capacity pressures rates and compresses broker panels, Valerie Turpin, president of property and marine, told The Insurer.

Amwins’ transportation practice leader, Jennifer Nuest, said the U.S. trucking market is split between “hyper competitive” vanilla segments and capacity gaps in tougher states, with MGAs and fronted programs proliferating even as some players retreat.

Global Indemnity’s MGA platform is building scale across wholesale, retail and direct-to-consumer channels through organic launches, MGA acquisitions and technology integration, Penn-America Underwriters CEO Praveen Reddy and Sayata CEO Asaf Lifshitz told The Insurer this week.

Burns & Wilcox is sustaining double-digit expansion in 2025 despite a moderating rate environment, said H.W. Kaufman co-president Danny Kaufman and executive vice president for commercial, Scott Higgins.

CRC Group is accelerating hiring, M&A and exclusive product build-out, the firm’s CEO for Specialty and Benefits, Neil Kessler, said, alongside its largest-ever technology investment and moving into London underwriting.

Axis Capital's head of U.S. E&S property Michael Carr said that rates in the sector remain adequate despite signs of softening, with the abundant flow of business allowing carriers to be more selective while structural changes in syndication and tighter broker targeting are reshaping strategies.

Paul Larson, president, financial lines at Ironshore and Liberty Mutual, wants the group’s financial and professional lines business to become a top 10 market by 2030, through wholesale-only product development, expanded broker protections and new MPL enhancements.

Aspen’s head of primary liability Rebecca Gitig said the E&S casualty market is still seeing rate momentum above trend, with established carriers pushing harder on pricing while some competitors retrench, even as social inflation has become a permanent factor in underwriting.