Q1 2023

State of the Market

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As we begin our journey into 2023, the insurance marketplace can be likened to a roller coaster – with twists and turns, upward momentum, and steep drops. On one hand, we’ve seen some strong underwriting results from carriers leading to softening in some market segments. On the other hand, we’re experiencing some of the hardest market conditions we’ve faced in decades for other segments. And that makes a report like this challenging to publish because it’s a snapshot of a marketplace where, for some segments, we could update it weekly, if not daily.

So, the most important message of this report isn’t a market prediction—it’s a promise to our clients. The promise that the specialists at Amwins remain focused on helping you deliver the best products the market can offer—no matter what the current state of the market might be. Through our deep industry knowledge, creative problem solving, access to exclusive products, and value-added tools and data, we are always ready to help you navigate the challenges and inevitable changes that lie ahead.

In this State of the Market report, specialists across all Amwins divisions dive into factors affecting market conditions and share intelligence spanning rate, capacity and coverage trends across numerous lines of business and industries in the U.S. as well as in London (European markets) and Bermuda.

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Market Summaries

Property, Casualty and Professional Lines

In property, the hard market is expected to continue well into the foreseeable future. A competitive rate environment in casualty has remained for good risks, but challenged classes can expect further rate adjustments. Professional lines rates have been relatively stable overall, with a few notable trends emerging.

Reinsurance

Uncertainty and rate increases dominate the reinsurance market as most property reinsurers view the current pricing on CAT property as insufficient to compensate for the ongoing level of risk.

Construction

Across the construction industry, inflated material prices, supply chain issues and worker shortages are delaying construction projects and wreaking havoc for builder’s risk. Meanwhile, in the casualty space, more capacity is entering than exiting resulting in clean accounts seeing competitive pricing.

Energy

While some insureds in the energy industry report double-digit growth in revenue due to inflated fuel prices, losses throughout the sector have many carriers pulling back capacity and underwriters putting greater focus on loss control.

Transportation

The sector has experienced a healthy amount of capacity as preferred markets become more flexible with underwriting guidelines and are willing to take on riskier accounts. The driver shortage continues to challenge the industry with fewer qualified drivers.

Cannabis

The cannabis insurance market continues to develop and expand despite obstacles from the discrepancy in state and federal law. Price remains the primary driver in purchasing decisions by cannabis businesses as the already tight margins continue to be squeezed by inflation and competition.

Cryptocurrency

As cryptocurrency becomes more widespread and the risks are better understood by carriers, we are seeing more underwriters cautiously open to writing coverage in the space. Two common exposures in the crypto/bitcoin space are ATMs and bitcoin mining.

Cyber

The rightsizing of network security controls mandated by carriers over the last 18 months is beginning to have a positive impact on loss ratios. The market remains hard, but most “shock” pricing adjustments have already happened and pricing across most industry classes seems to have stabilized.

MGA Marketplace

In both property and casualty, more non-traditional entities are getting into the MGA space, as well as insurance linked securities. Provided that underwriting results remain positive, we expect this growth trajectory to continue.

State of the Market

State Of The Market

State Of The Market

We Help You Win.

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