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E&S market slowing as some warn of ‘excess’ capital - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers E&S market slowing as some warn of ‘excess’ capital by Richard Sine Excess and Surplus Lines , P/C Pricing Oct 13, 2026 SAN DIEGO — The excess and surplus lines insurance market continues to win business from the admitted market, but premium growth has slowed to single digits, executives said at the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association’s annual marketplace this week. Some warn that an influx of new capital is pushing prices down faster than the underlying risks warrant. Premium volume rose 2.8% in the first half of 2026 compared with 13.2% in the same period last year, according to WSIA’s August report on data from the 15 stamping-office states. Property is driving the slowdown. Property rates are down 30% to 40% in some cases, said Erich Bublitz, Kansas City, Missouri-based executive vice president of E&S at AmTrust. Large shared and layered accounts have been hit hardest and the decreases are working their way down to smaller accounts, he said. Rates for large catastrophe-exposed accounts, which saw the sharpest increases during the hard market, are now falling fastest, said Andy Hendrix, Alpharetta, Georgia-based executive vice president, E&S property, at Westfield Specialty. The E&S property sector has had double-digit rate decreases for three years, and rates will likely “maintain the current downward trend of down 15% through year-end,” he said. E&S premium growth has dropped to about 2% after a long run of double-digit gains, but other lines are still flowing into the market, Mr. Bublitz said. “I don’t think that single-digit growth is indicative of a weak (E&S) market.” Casualty is firmer. “In aggregate, I would anticipate single-digit premium increases for many insureds,” said Ania Caruso, Atlanta-based national casualty president at broker Risk Placement Services. “But accounts with challenging loss histories, social inflation concerns, adverse venues, or large auto fleets could still experience double-digit increases.” In financial lines, renewal rates in the financial lines business of Cardinal, CNA’s E&S brand, are up 1.5% year to date through September, said Macy Steers, a senior vice president at CNA. A year earlier, they were down 1.5%. He described the market as “organized and disciplined.” Previously, the E&S market grew to fill a capacity gap, said Lynanne St. Denis, Philadelphia-based head of wholesale property and casualty lines at Navigators, a unit of The Hartford. E&S continues to grow market share because businesses’ needs are becoming more complex, she said, citing the growing use of technology in products and more complex or risky products such as nutraceuticals and motorized scooters. The pace of growth of the E&S market has slowed since the “Golden Era” of the last five to six years, said Anurag Batta, president of wholesale broker Bridge Specialty Group, said that. But the industry is poised to grow due to risks becoming more complex. Even as rates have declined, policy counts “are still holding up,” and Bridge’s count is growing, Mr. Batta said. New capacity An influx of “irresponsible capital” from private equity firms, newer reinsurers and fronting companies is a concern, Mr. Bublitz said. The new capacity has pushed primary general liability rates down in a way that the “fundamentals don’t support,” he said. “There’s absolutely too much capital in the property market right now,” Mr. Hendrix said, citing broker facilities where insurers higher up the coverage tower follow the lead underwriter’s pricing. More capital is good for buyers, Ms. St. Denis said. But she urged buyers to check insurers’ financial strength, especially on long-tail liability lines. “The excess of capital is definitely on people’s minds,” Mr. Batta added, noting that Bridge Specialty vets its insurer partners for financial stability, among other criteria. 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