Commercial E&S

The market hones its US focus on reinsurance and surplus lines.

The specialty carrier is raising fresh funds to capitalize on the surging E&S market.

Capacity withdrawals force risk managers of large corporates to buy less cover to manage costs.

SkyKnight Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group and Aquiline Capital Partners have led the investment.

Enstar will remain a minority investor, with PE capital also drawn from Dragoneer and SkyKnight.

The insurer wrote an excess casualty policy for the ride-share company in 2014.

Insurance carriers and private equity firms have been approached over the last few weeks to gauge their interest in the business.

Michael Carr will report to US CEO Carlton Maner.

Brooks was the CEO and chairman of Gen Re’s excess and surplus lines division General Star for three decades.

The Dubai-based carrier will target surplus specialty lines including energy, property and political violence.

The recruitment drive comes as excess casualty rates soar in response to the social inflation crisis sweeping the US.

E&S premiums across 15 US stamping offices nationally increased 19% to $37.5bn in 2019, while the same offices recorded a total of 4.9mn filings, a roughly 9% increase from the 4.4mn filings in 2018.