Brown & Riding has launched a national private client practice to help retail agents place high-net-worth personal lines risks into a market where the two forces shaping demand are moving in opposite directions. The US minted more than 440,000 new millionaires in 2025 - over 1,200 per day and nearly half of all new millionaires worldwide, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 - while admitted carriers have simultaneously pulled back from high-value personal lines in the states where much of that wealth is concentrated. California, Florida and Texas represent the sharpest expression of that contradiction: three of the highest HNW population states are also the three where admitted carrier retreat has been most aggressive, pushing affluent personal lines into the surplus market at precisely the moment demand is growing. Personal lines surplus premiums reached $81 billion nationally in 2024, up 12.1% per data from state stamping offices, as admitted carriers restricted or exited coverage in high-risk markets.
Many newly affluent Americans are unaware they have outgrown their existing insurance programs, according to the Private Risk Management Association - a coverage gap that retail agents are often first to identify but lack the wholesale market access to address without a specialist partner.
The practice is led by Courtney Kerr, who brings more than 15 years of experience in high-net-worth and specialty personal lines covering fine art, collectibles and complex high-value risks. Kerr is a Lloyd's tribunalized coverholder - the specific credential that makes the practice a genuine wholesale underwriting operation rather than a distribution arrangement, giving it the authority to bind coverage directly rather than routing every placement through an external underwriter. She will serve as the central underwriting authority for the practice nationwide.
Coverage spans primary, secondary and vacation homes; fine art, jewellery and collectibles; yachts; high-value and collector vehicles; personal liability; and primary and excess flood insurance. More than 75% of wealthy clients carry excess liability protection and more than 60% prefer multi-line bundled coverage across their assets, according to market data - a preference that requires the kind of multi-carrier assembly capability a specialist wholesale partner provides rather than a single admitted carrier relationship.
Kerr said the practice is built around carefully selected carrier and market relationships, exclusive program access and a collaborative underwriting style designed to foster long-term partnerships rather than one-off transactions. "We utilize carefully selected carrier and market relationships, exclusive program access, and a collaborative underwriting style, all designed to foster long-term partnerships, rather than one-off transactions," she said, adding that the practice aims to give retail partners confidence when presenting complex coverage solutions to affluent clients.
The US HNW insurance market generates an estimated $40 billion to $45 billion in annual premium per market research published in 2025. Retail agents managing affluent client relationships increasingly need specialist wholesale partners to assemble multi-carrier solutions for clients with complex personal risk profiles - a need that has grown as climate-driven losses have pushed standard carriers to restrict or exit coverage in high-risk markets. Brown & Riding's chief distribution officer Cristi Carrington said the practice's exclusive focus on affluent personal lines underpins the market relationships and structuring capacity that specialty personal risks require, and that retail agents rely on Brown & Riding's specialist teams to access markets that standard carriers have declined.
