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Hi Friends! It’s good to be back home after a packed week at the TMPAA Annual Summit, the powerhouse gathering for the specialty program market. Having this event back-to-back with ITC Vegas is quite the experience. So many connections made and industry perspectives shared from the diverse group attendees. From the moment I arrived at the hotel on Sunday, before the golf tournament, to the final breakfast and meetings on Wednesday, it was clear: niche risk programs remain one of the strongest forces in insurance. Conference season is now slowing down, but this week’s headlines reminded us that specialty momentum isn’t slowing at all. All of this season’s events serve as a great reminder that when this industry puts expertise to work, it creates real opportunity. Now we shift from conference mode to execution mode, as we close out a strong 2025 and plan for 2026. I’m excited for what’s next. Thanks for reading and for being part of this community. Let’s dive into the Three Things We Learned: |
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Specialty growth isn’t a moment — it’s a movementThe confidence in the specialty program business continues. You could feel it in Scottsdale, and we saw it in the news, too. Bishop Street is investing in the future with an MGA incubator and experienced leadership to help launch next-gen programs. Delos expanded access to wildfire coverage for more than 265,000 California homes, a true example of underwriting innovation targeting unmet need. MISSION-backed ShelterWind is helping property owners manage wind and hail deductibles more predictably. And Wright Flood continued the consolidation trend by agreeing to acquire Poulton’s assets to grow its flood portfolio. The signal here is strong: when expertise meets execution, capital is ready to follow. |
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Insurtech is becoming the connective tissue of specialty insuranceThe shift is clear; we’ve moved beyond “disruption” to enablement that supports scale. Kin stepped into home financing, showing how insurance can sit more naturally inside the homeownership experience. Simply Business rolled out AI to guide small business owners, not overwhelm them. Federato introduced agentic AI designed to make underwriting faster and sharper. Instanda secured fresh capital to expand globally and fuel product enhancements. Honeycomb and Neptune Flood partnered to bring broader property coverage into one digital flow. Sentry teamed with TruckerCloud to improve claims and safety. Lemonade integrated its offerings right into Tesla vehicles, embedded getting very real. And even when AWS hiccupped, parametric cyber solutions held steady, proving resilience in a moment that could have gone the other way. All of this reinforces a theme from TMPAA: technology that helps insurers and MGAs execute better is where the market is placing its bets. |
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Big profits are welcome — but affordability and stability questions lingerEarnings season continued with a wave of strong results. Chubb posted a standout quarter with fewer cats and stronger investment returns. Berkley and RLI reported impressive underwriting performance as discipline pays off. Ategrity and Selective delivered growth and improved results as well. But strong results aren’t the whole story. Selective’s upcoming headquarters move has employees expressing real anxiety online, growth can be disruptive if not managed carefully. And in Florida, Progressive recorded nearly a $1B charge despite the broader profitability narrative improving. It’s a reminder that conditions are not improving evenly for all policyholders or markets.Post-TMPAA Three Things – Specialty Strength, Tech Muscle, and Earnings Heat The tension ahead: how long can high premiums and strong profit coexist before pressure builds from regulators, customers, or competition? |