For anyone just looking at rates, Canada’s commercial property and casualty (P&C) market is wide open. Capacity is out there, prices are easing, and domestic insurers are ready for business.
From where Graeme Finnell (pictured) sits – vice president, casualty/broker relations at ABEX – “the market is, and will likely continue to be very challenging, particularly in the general P&C space.”
In Graeme’s opinion, more mid-sized and larger brokers are not turning to MGAs for assistance in P&C business. They are pushing this business into their domestic market contracts to satisfy growth targets and maximize CPC payouts.
“Add to this all the consolidation taking place both on the broker and market side in the race to create scale, and we get an extremely unbalanced landscape where larger markets prevail.”
Finnell has spent three decades in the insurance industry, his last ten years exclusively in the MGA space liaising with Lloyd’s of London and international broking units in the UK.
That vantage point, he says, gives him a unique view and opinion of how Lloyd’s has changed over the last several years.
“Lloyd’s used to be the hard-to-place market,” he says. “If you couldn’t fit a submission in the domestic marketplace, you’d turn to Lloyd’s. It would be a little more expensive, but it was niche underwriting and you got what you needed.”
Those days, in his view, are gone.
“The London appetite for DUA or Binder business in the general P&C space has become ‘very vanilla, very conservative,’” he told Insurance Business.
In terms of rates, the picture remains highly competitive with rates continuing to spiral downwards (on average 4-8%) depending on the line of coverage. Reinsurers also continue to drop their rates despite the devastating climate-related losses in 2024/25, Finnell said.
This generally means the continued softening in rate for primary markets and MGA’s alike.
On capacity, Finnell said there is an oversupply of capital for more generic, straightforward business, but a shortage when it comes to complex risks. As a result, standard risks tend to draw intense competition, while tougher occupancies still struggle to find a home.
All of this plays out against a volatile backdrop: geopolitical shocks, wars, tariffs, inflation, interest rates, and the rapid advance of cyber threats and artificial intelligence. For many commercial buyers, Finnell says, “you’re just hanging on for dear life to maintain your business and keep it open and running. You’re not really worried about how your insurance renewal is going to play out.”
That mindset, combined with segmented softening within the market, creates uneven relief, Finnell said, and added that well-performing risks see heavy discounts while others remain under strict underwriting scrutiny.
For insurance brokers trying to navigate this challenging environment, Finnell noted that it is now critical to truly understand their clients’ exposures, speak with them regularly to reassess priorities, and support them in managing risk, with insurance transfer as just one part of the solution.
Brokers, he added, also need to try to stay on top of the uber-competitive insurance environment that offers an ever-expanding list of options and carriers to work with.
“There are more options than ever, perhaps too many”.
Brokers have a very challenging job, he said. “They must not only understand their client but also be aware of and stay on top of the vast amount of carriers to ensure they have their clients insured with the carrier that offers them the best terms and the most competitive pricing.”
“Unfortunately, insurance in some cases, has become a commodity. The quickest quote and the lowest price seem to win the day. Due diligence and coverage scrutiny have taken a back seat,” he added.
In a soft, crowded, and uneven market, asking fewer questions may feel attractive in the short term. For MGAs – and for more complex risks – the long-term cost of that comfort could be much higher.
