“Innovation has to meet urgency,” said Diana Ho (pictured), vice president of client solutions at RAISE Underwriting. In Canada’s specialty and hard-to-place insurance market, that’s no longer aspirational – it’s operational reality.
Brokers and MGAs are working through rising economic instability, tightening capacity, and climate-driven losses. In Ho’s view, those conditions are reshaping the market into one where speed, adaptability, and underwriting discipline must co-exist. “We’re not just quoting, we’re advising,” she said.
Ho pointed to RAISE’s work in construction insurance as a case study. Policies aren’t built on requirements alone – they’re shaped by what contracts leave out.
“We’re looking at the contract and going, where is the gap in the coverage? Where will some of those risk exposures be? And maybe they aren’t a contractual requirement, but it’s something to think about,” she said.
That kind of analysis is being pushed by clients who expect more than basic transactional support.
RAISE operates in a crowded MGA field, facing competition not just from peers but from domestic carriers bringing larger capacity and aggressive pricing. But Ho was clear – price wars aren’t the answer. “There’s rising demand for adaptability of the coverages because there’s so much competition right now... we’re figuring out how to be more adaptable in that intense competition,” she said.
That means investing in advisory-led underwriting, product development, and operational technology. Parametric coverage is one tool being used more often to address climate exposures. “Parametric insurance is becoming not just a buzzword, but a competitive requirement,” Ho said.
Brokers are also being asked to understand and anticipate newer models like embedded insurance. While still nascent in construction, it’s gaining ground in consumer markets. “You’re not going to two different platforms to one, purchase the asset, and then now go source insurance. Like, it’s all embedded into one buyer experience,” Ho said.
Efficiency and automation are no longer optional. “Efficiency is going to allow for us to scale better and continue to evolve our user experience for our clients,” said Ho. AI and other tools are enabling more precision in pricing and underwriting, allowing MGAs to respond faster and more consistently across complex accounts.
RAISE is also looking to address talent gaps in specific coverage areas – pollution being a notable one. “We are looking to bring on another one or two individuals that specialize specifically in... pollution to elevate that other area,” Ho said. As tools for detecting and managing environmental exposures improve, the underwriting opportunity has become more viable.
The firm’s surety capability is also a key differentiator. “As I am aware, we are the only MGA in Canada right now that offer both contract surety, commercial surety, and developer surety bonding,” Ho said.
For brokers, that means a single entry point for multiple lines of business, which can reduce administrative friction and improve cross-sell efficiency. “We can still be nimble, walk across the room and talk to our surety colleague,” she said.
The pricing environment remains volatile. “Trying to provide that innovation, that responsiveness, and the underwriting integrity without sacrificing the risk discipline, but still remain competitive in terms of pricing – that continues to be a challenge,” Ho said.
She flagged ongoing pressures tied to project delays, construction cost inflation, and skilled labour shortages. For brokers, that’s translating into unpredictable renewals and potential non-renewals tied to reinsurance treaty constraints. “We try to get ahead of that and make sure we’re keeping our broker partners in the loop,” she said.
Location-specific exposures add another layer of difficulty. “Properties in high-risk zones... Calgary, for instance, around hail,” Ho said, are increasingly facing restrictive deductibles or capped limits.
In some cases, multiple insurers must be layered together to achieve full coverage. “Sometimes you’ll see in a large construction project, COC, 15 insurers are on that,” she said. That makes claims coordination more difficult and increases the value of MGAs who can streamline that complexity.
When it comes to assembling quota-share capacity, the division of labour isn’t always clear. “It depends on the partnership that the broker has with the insurer,” Ho said. Many MGAs aren’t positioned – or compensated – to pull together 100% of capacity, particularly in open market deals.
Where RAISE stands out, Ho said, is in knowledge-sharing and real-time engagement. “I spend a lot of time with our broker partners... around what’s changing in risk appetite, what’s changing in sector trends,” she said. That direct line to market sentiment allows her team to stay ahead of shifts in demand and evolve their offerings accordingly.
That feedback loop is part of a broader push to support brokers not just with product, but with intelligence. Ho frequently meets with brokers at offices, panels, and trade shows. “We’re very fortunate to be a trusted advisor to the municipalities,” she said, referring to her team’s work promoting surety bonds as cost-effective performance guarantees.
“Everybody’s always urgently looking for insurance tomorrow or today or yesterday,” Ho said. That urgency isn’t new – but the ability to meet it with tailored, scalable, tech-enabled underwriting is.
Looking ahead, Ho identified three key growth paths: parametric products, construction innovation (including green building and mass timber), and embedded ecosystems. “Insurers that can underwrite those types of new projects... is going to be ahead of the curve,” she said.
AI-driven risk modeling will sharpen pricing. Surety will continue to unlock capital. And embedded offerings will change how clients buy insurance. “It’s not we’re just construction insurance,” Ho said. “It’s being able to toggle three different worlds to be able to stay relevant to our clients.”
