In his new role as Senior Vice President of Excess & Surplus Lines at Philadelphia Insurance Cos., Scott Bayer will be tasked with defining the carrier’s presence in the nonadmitted market, identifying profitable target niches, expanding the insurer’s product offerings to existing agents and expanding its distribution sources.

Here, Bayer talks with NU about where opportunities can be found in the E&S market, the need for diversification in carriers’ risk portfolios, and the age-old conundrum of balancing market share and underwriting profit.

What do you consider the biggest growth areas in the E&S market at the moment, and where are E&S insurers getting rate?

I don’t believe there is one single growth area for E&S right now: Some of the best opportunities we are seeing are individual accounts being carved out of standard markets due to adverse experience or exposure volatility, such as larger habitational accounts written on a guaranteed-cost basis. Many standard carriers are realizing this approach leaves no room for error with respect to claim frequency. Surplus-lines carriers are able to approach at various attachment points and rates that reflect an individual account’s loss history and underwriting characteristics.

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Shawn Moynihan

Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].

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