E&S/Specialty

They may not command the multibillion-dollar premium figures touted by competitors involved in the latest merger deals, but market clout is not necessarily synonymous with size.

As retail brokers struggle with the declining revenue of a continuing soft market, they are engaging in some activities that frustrate their wholesalers, according to E&S brokerage executives.

Roseland, N.J.-based insurance wholesaler Crump Group announced its subsidiary, Crump Property & Casualty Insurance Services, has acquired Target Underwriting Management Corporation.

The new federal Affordable Care Act could potentially have a positive effect on medical malpractice liability, actuaries were told at a recent Casualty Actuarial Society seminar on reinsurance.

Medical professional liability insurers are at a sweet spot in their underwriting cycle. For insurers, it's a place where loss ratios are low, capital is plentiful--and in this case premiums, though under pressure, are only slightly off their peak.

"Coverholder business has become an absolute priority for Lloyd's," according to Adam Stafford, senior project manager of market operations for Lloyd's.