Ascot has launched AscotEXEC, a new brand for its growing management liability business.
The brand provides coverage for public, private and not-for-profit organizations in the commercial and financial institution sectors.
According to the company, AscotEXEC will be formally introduced at the upcoming PLUS D&O Symposium, where segment leadership will present its products and discuss recent enhancements. This includes newly launched offerings such as primary public directors and officers, lead side-a, standalone primary employment practices liability and standalone primary fiduciary liability.
The company will also preview its Private Company/Non-Profit Primary Crime product, expected to launch in the middle of this year.
Brian Chiolan, head of management and professional liability at Ascot US, said that the launch of the AscotEXEC brand reaffirms the company’s commitment to the management liability space. “Over the past year, we have responded to the evolving needs of these clients with new products and an expanded headcount – nearly doubling our underwriting and claims talent – as we ensure Ascot is built to be a one-stop shop experience for these clients,” he said.
Lack of demand has always been one of the main problems facing the management liability market. There is weak demand coming from small businesses, often because they think that they are immune to risks.
However, as the COVID-19 pandemic taught the industry, all businesses have management liability exposures. The pandemic set off a chain-reaction of economic and social crises that led to an extremely volatile environment.
In a 2022 interview, Richard Bryant, president of underwriting at Prime Insurance, said that the market environment might get worse before it gets better as economies try to recover post-lockdown.
However, as the world moves on from the pandemic, appetites have changed rapidly. According to Sarah Roberts, management liability account executive at Brown & Riding, increased competition forced management liability carriers to be as aggressive as possible in retaining their own renewals and/or to compete for new business.
“Appetites rapidly changed,” Roberts said. “Carriers that had moratoriums on certain classes of business during the pandemic, like senior aging services, started considering those risks again.”
Through the brand launch, Ascot US CEO Matt Kramer said that the company will be able to better align and clarify its services and become a “quicker, more robust, more perfect partner for our clients in this sophisticated and highly litigated space.”
