Imran Pira, senior vice president and head of management and professional lines at NFP Canada, recently spoke with Canadian Underwriter about the softening of directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance pricing and capacity expansion in Canada.
Although new capacity is a contributing factor to increased D&O market competition, Pira told the publication it’s not the main factor in the current market cycle transition. New capacity is filling holes left by insurers that made strategic decisions to move away from D&O coverage lines in Canada.
“That market transition, or moving more towards a softer market, is being driven by existing insurance or incumbent insurers that have scaled up as a result of the hard market,” Pira said. “They have larger books now and have been able to capitalize on some significant premium opportunities.
“Policy count is up, and portfolio sizes are larger, so that’s giving them the capability to put up larger limits, play lower down in D&O programs and participate in ways they may not have had the comfort to do [previously]. That is probably impacting the market transition more than new capacity.”
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