Exclusive: Ascot to roll out trio of new products after management liability rebrand

By Michael Loney

Feb 28 - (The Insurer) - Ascot has rebranded its management liability business as AscotEXEC as it targets a “tremendous long-term opportunity” in the space and prepares to launch new products for crime, primary employment practices liability and primary fiduciary for financial institutions.

The insurer said the AscotEXEC brand launch underscores its focus on advancing its capabilities and services to provide comprehensive coverage for public, private and not-for-profit companies in the commercial and financial institutions space.

The company said that its management liability business is “fast growing”.

Brian Chiolan, head of management and professional liability at Ascot U.S., highlighted the “volatile landscape” of business-related risks facing management liability clients.

“Over the past year, we have responded to the evolving needs of these clients with new products and an expanded headcount – nearly doubling our underwriting and claims talent – as we ensure Ascot is built to be a one-stop shop experience for these clients. The launch of the AscotEXEC brand reaffirms our commitment to the space,” Chiolan said in a statement.

AscotEXEC will be formally introduced to the market at next week’s PLUS D&O Symposium.

In comments provided to this publication, Ascot U.S. CEO Matt Kramer said the launch of AscotEXEC “reaffirms our commitment to the management liability space”.

“We are thrilled to be able to provide comprehensive coverage for public, private and not-for-profit companies in the commercial and financial institutions space, and look forward to facing the market with this unified brand,” Kramer said.

Some areas of the management liability market have seen pressure on pricing, particularly in D&O where there has been several quarters of decreases. But Ascot believes the space is a good source of growth.

“As we continue to see heightened litigation against corporations and their leaders, we see tremendous long-term opportunity in the management liability insurance market,” Kramer said.

“That said, it is a dynamic marketplace with pricing pressure in certain segments and we will continue to practice underwriting discipline as we strategically grow our diverse portfolio. We are investing in talent and product capabilities now so that we are poised to take advantage of what we see as significant opportunities in management liability.”

Kramer said that the current management liability market is a perfect example of the importance of diversification in books of business.

“Looking at our capabilities – public company D&O is currently under pressure, whereas private/non-profit and financial institutions are, we believe, providing more favourable returns. Additionally ancillary lines, including EPL, fiduciary and crime enable us to be more relevant to our clients and give us resilience to manage various market cycles,” he said.

Recent enhancements include Ascot this year launching primary public D&O, lead Side-A, standalone primary EPL and standalone primary fiduciary liability product offerings.

“Next up, we’ll launch our primary EPL and primary fiduciary for financial institutions, and our crime product later this year,” Kramer said.

Ascot’s private company/non-profit primary crime product is expected to launch in mid-2025.

“We will have the full suite of management liability products to provide solutions into the market, and we are always innovating on new opportunities,” Kramer concluded.