Specialty earthquake insurer launches surplus lines unit
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Catastrophe insurer and reinsurer Palomar Holdings Inc. launched an excess and surplus lines unit on Tuesday.
Palomar Excess and Surplus Insurance Co. is domiciled in Arizona and is licensed to write property/casualty and surety business, La Jolla, California-based Palomar said in a statement.
The unit “is currently in the process” of becoming an eligible surplus lines insurer in all U.S. jurisdictions and plans to start underwriting in the second half of 2020, the statement said.
Palomar was founded in 2014 by Mac Armstrong, who previously was president of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, a managing general agency that Brown & Brown Inc. bought in 2012.
Mr. Armstrong was named chairman of the insurer, in addition to his role as CEO, earlier this month after Ryan Clark, president and managing director of Genstar Capital, stepped down following the sale of Genstar’s remaining ownership in Palomar in May.
The creation of an E&S unit is a natural progression for Palomar, Mr. Armstrong said in the statement.
“Candidly, several of our commercial products are perhaps better suited for the E&S market. As we continue to grow Palomar and expand the company’s product offerings, PESIC will enable us to write and insure certain risks that our admitted products and geographic footprint cannot currently satisfy,” he said.
Palomar reported gross written premium of $252 million in 2019. About 67% of its business is earthquake insurance and reinsurance, according to its 2019 results statement. In addition, it offers hurricane and flood coverage. The company operates an insurer in La Jolla and a reinsurer in Bermuda.
Palomar also announced a proposed stock offering of 1 million shares on Tuesday. Palomar’s stock trades on the NASDAQ exchange where it closed at $83.61 on Tuesday.
