Limit launches management liability offering

Digital wholesale broker Limit has broadened its product offerings with six management liability products in response to what the insurtech’s CEO John Loeber told our sister publication E&S Insurer was a “clamoring” from its retail agency partners.

The suite of management liability products now being offered by Limit includes directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), crime, fiduciary, miscellaneous E&O, and kidnap and ransom.

Those management liability coverages are being offered via the same digital infrastructure that enables Limit to provide instant quoting for its existing cyber and tech E&O products from its more than 40 carrier partners. Loeber said “between 20 and 30” of those carriers will also support its new management liability offerings.

Heading up Limit’s management liability offering is senior broker Mary Sharp, who joined the insurtech from Hub International last year.

The move into management liability comes at a time when various market reports have detailed how the rampant price rises within the D&O space in recent years have dampened, with an influx of capacity resulting in increased competition.

Heightened competition in the EPL space is also putting pressure on rates with more modest price rises, while primary layer rate increases in the E&O market are moderating, although excess pricing remains elevated.

SME focus

Limit’s management liability products are predominantly targeted at the same client base that its existing cyber and tech E&O offerings are aimed at – SMEs with revenues under $50mn.

Loeber said there has been some softening in the management liability market “across the board”.

“But nonetheless, it is still a challenging product to procure. Even if somebody can procure it on their own, they’re still going to spend a lot of time doing it, and so if we can make that process easier we think there’s significant value in that,” said Loeber.

“The general tenor of our business is different from the large market wholesalers. We primarily act as an access and convenience player in the space. Our insureds are largely SMEs - $50mn in revenue - not impossibly difficult accounts, but they can be tedious to place all the same.

“And that’s where we add a lot of value - we make the process fast and efficient and restore some time to the retail agents.”

Limit’s management liability move comes shortly after the wholesaler announced in October that it raised $14.5mn in seed and Series A funding from backers including IA Capital Group and American Family Ventures.

Headcount grows

At the time, Limit, which initially began life in 2020 as Apollo Brokers before a rebrand in September this year, said the capital raised would be used to support the hire of additional staff and its entry into new lines of business.

The digital broker has added some 15 people in the past few months, and its headcount now numbers around 40.

“It’s important for us to have not just great technology, but also real insurance professionals and expert brokers on the team who can get the job done.

“That’s really important when you’re dealing in these specialty products because there’s often nuance and complexity, and at that point you need a broker to fill in what an automated system might be unable to do,” Loeber said.

Broadening appetite

Going forward, Loeber said he expects the nature of Limit’s client base will broaden as the wholesaler’s retail broker and carrier partners become more accustomed to its technology.

“We don’t put any constraints on what we’re willing to take on,” said Loeber.

“Our portfolio is overwhelmingly small business but thanks to our expert brokerage team, we do have some mid-market and large accounts.

“We insure a handful of public companies, for example, and so we are happy and willing to take on those types of accounts as well. It’s just that our book composition gears toward the smaller end,” he explained.

The insureds Limit can take on for its instant quoting platform will also grow in size as carrier application programming interfaces, or APIs, develop, Loeber suggested.

“Carrier APIs that are available for instantaneous quoting are generally for low revenue submissions - $50mn and under is where a lot of carriers have their sweet spots,” said Loeber.

Specialty carriers are still getting comfortable with fully automated underwriting, but as Loeber explained, as they see its benefits their appetite will grow.

“That in turn is going to allow us to offer instantaneous quoting experiences for even $100mn or $150mn companies, hopefully not too far out in the future,” said Loeber.

“As it stands, we’re seeing good utilization from our agents which proves to us that we’re supplying high quality, winning quotes in short turnarounds,” he added.