Former First Mercury chief executive Richard H. Smith is putting his industry expertise to good use by creating a new managing general agent (MGA), WestCongress Insurance Services.
The company has recently completed its tribunalization with Lloyd’s, authorizing the firm as a coverholder and giving it access to the London-based insurer’s market.
A Yahoo Finance report said the company will focus on excess and surplus (E&S) lines, a major market in the US which rakes in more than $40 billion in premiums and represents 14% of the total commercial insurance business in the country.
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The report also noted that the newly created MGA will focus on “niche and underserved segments” in the E&S lines given that existing providers are starting to “narrow their focus.”
“We’ve seen a consolidation among carriers and MGAs in the P&C marketplace. This has narrowed the number of choices available in the US specialty commercial insurance marketplace,” Smith observed in the report.
“Small and middle market businesses, now more than ever, need MGAs with deep distribution relationships… they need insurance protection that requires a deep understanding of their risks in order to be priced right and serviced properly.”
