Program business in the U.S. currently generates $27.4 billionin premiums, or roughly one in 10 of the dollars spent oncommercial property-casualty insurance today, according to thethird annual “State of Program Business” study conducted by theTarget Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA).

Total premium for program business in the U.S. has increasedmore than 10 percent over 2011, significantly outstripping thegrowth in commercial lines direct premiums.

The study, conducted by TMPAA and Advisen, examined 2012business results based on responses from 214 program administratorand 43 carriers, examining issues such as program definition, themajor challenges faced by both administrators and insurers, andmarketing practices in the program space.

The findings were released today at TMPAA's 13th Annual Summitin Scottsdale.

Key findings include:

• Program business premiums increased 10.8 from 2011's $24.7billion, an almost threefold increase over the growth in directpremiums for commercial lines, which increased by only 3.3percent.
• Carriers and program administrators report an estimated 2,075individual programs–an increase of 3.5 percent from the 2,000individual programs estimated for 2011.
• The number of confirmed organizations in the U.S. that meet thedefinition of program administrator remained relatively unchanged,from 950 in the 2012 survey to 1,000 for this year's survey.
• As in previous years, program administrators are optimisticabout growth, in spite of a generally challenging market place.They are also optimistic that this growth will continue in thefuture.

However, respondents reported that in spite of the robustness ofthe program market, challenges exist. For administrators, issuesrevolve around carrier partners, with the top concern being thelack of patience and long-term commitment by carriers, especiallyin working to develop new programs and carriers' unwillingness toconsider smaller programs.

For their part, carrier respondents named the soft market,technology and underwriting skill and discipline as their topchallenges in the program space. Both segments agreed thattechnology is a key challenge, with some players finding itdifficult to keep up with and leverage technology.

For more information, go to the TMPAA website at http://targetmkts.com/.