A report on excess and surplus lines released at the annual convention of key market players last week may have indicated little industry premium growth for 2005, but 2006 is another story, according to bullish insurers interviewed here.

"We're growing–and not just in property," said Shaun Kelly, president and chief operating officer of Lexington Insurance, referring to the E&S business of American International Group's Boston-based company in 2006, during an on-site interview here at the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, Ltd. annual conference.

A report commissioned by the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation of Kansas City, Mo-based NAPSLO, and authored by analysts of Oldwick, N.J.-based A.M. Best, revealed that overall growth for the E&S segment was nearly flat for the second straight year in 2005, with a growth rate of only 0.81 percent. (See last week's edition for more details.)