Surplus lines market foresees growth

Observers say the outlook for demand for excess and surplus lines coverage is positive. Alan J. Kaufman, chairman, president and CEO of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox Ltd., said, “If everything continues as it is now, I think we would possibly have a very good 2014 as well.”

Timothy W. Turner, Chicago-based president and CEO of R-T Specialty L.L.C., a division of the Ryan Specialty Group L.L.C., said the outlook for the market is “very strong, very bullish. Despite a soft market, the nonadmitted business in the U.S. is at a record high, and those numbers are really occurring at the bottom of a soft market.”

Mr. Turner said an improving economy has helped, particularly in construction and transportation. New housing construction, for instance, is at a 10-year high.

“I think it's had a very positive effect” on the specialty market, Mr. Turner said.

Christopher J. Cavallaro, managing director at Jericho, N.Y.-based wholesaler ARC Excess & Surplus L.L.C., said time will tell, however, as to whether “there will be an intelligent approach to underwriting and brokering” or whether business will be written indiscriminately.