E&S Insurer Conference panel: Capital supporting E&S casualty remains 'pretty healthy'

By Chris Munro

May 28 - (The Insurer) - Capital supporting the E&S casualty market remains “pretty healthy” even as the sector faces various challenges with rates picking up again after seeing a slight softening last year.

Speaking during the E&S Insurer Conference 2025 on Wednesday morning, CRC’s national casualty director Kristyn Smallcombe said how a couple of years ago, “there was a surge of new capacity (and) new startups in all different varieties, both carrier and MGA.”

Smallcombe said she expected that there would be a slowdown last year given there was a suggestion of casualty E&S pricing softening.

However, she noted that “things have picked up again.”

The CEO of E&S startup carrier Dellwood Insurance Group, Michael Price, said “capital is still available” to support the underwriting of casualty E&S business.

“It really comes back to the sustainability of the business plan,” Price said, as he acknowledged that starting a balance sheet company “is a challenge.”

Indeed, Price said that the business he helms is “the first de novo company in a number of years.”

Launching an MGA “is much more expedient,” he said. “It's less regulatory, less capital required to establish the business."

From a reinsurance standpoint, Price said the availability of coverage to support casualty portfolios “kind of follows the primary market.”

Some primary casualty portfolios are “in the repair shop,” said Price, while others “are thriving.”

“I think it's the same on the reinsurance side; there are some markets that are snake bit right now in casualty that are asking more questions or being more selective in who they approach. And there's others that see the rate trend and it's risk on.

“Overall, it's still a pretty healthy capital market out there (for casualty business).”

Drilling down in the MGA space, Price said Dellwood is “a big supporter” of the segment, with the newly launched carrier providing capacity to several program administrators across the P&C sector.

Price said he views MGAs in several categories, with “true program administrators, your specialty underwriters” able to thrive in casualty, as he highlighted their ability to handle unique risks with loss controls and integrated claims models, and “a secret sauce around a very disciplined line of business.”

He also said there are the sidecars that provide capacity to support high excess business, which he described as “a moment in time cycle play.”

“I think those things will run their course,” he predicted.

The third group is MGUs – “basically just a carrier without a balance sheet.”

“Those are the ones I do think over time will have a little bit more trouble because the reinsurance capacity will be more fickle in the coming years if you can't demonstrate some type of differentiated model,” Price predicted.