The Cincinnati Insurance Companies have grown business for 75 years through relationships with a c
arefully selected set of regional independent agents—and business in the surplus lines segment is no exception, executives report.
That sets the insurer apart from other E&S writers, according to Don Doyle, Jr., the architect of Cinci
nnati Specialty Underwriters, an operating subsidiary of Cincinnati Financial Corporation he helped to start in 2007.
“If you look over the last 15 years, a lot has changed in the E&S market. Today, more than 75% of th
e E&S market is controlled by three large wholesale brokers,” he told analysts and investors gathered for Cincinnati Financial’s first Investor Day.
“We distribute only through the agents of Cincinnati insurance. No wholesalers, no MGAs, ma
naging general agents, or managing general underwriters,” he said, pointing out one of the characteristics that sets the company apart from competitors in the E&S business.
Doyle, who led CSU for 17 years before turning the reins over to Dawn Chapel in advance of his reti
rement later this year, believes that the distribution model and CSU’s control of the business has been one of the drivers of consistent profitability.
See more beautiful photo albums Here >>>
“Those three large wholesale brokers have a lot of control on where the business is going. They ha
ve a bit of control over the risk takers, yet they take no risk,” Doyle said without specifically identifying the big three.
Doyle spoke after President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Spray and several executives in sales and marketing described the processes of vetting quality appointed
agencies for personal and commercial lines, which now number just over 2,000, and day-to-day activities that build intimate relationships between agents and their Cincinnati field representatives.
