Conning--Medical Professional Liability Insurers Face Growth Challenges

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Feb 16, 2016, 09:45 ET

HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Medical Professional Liability Industry faces a number of challenges to growth in the current market environment, according to a new study by Conning, Inc.

"The Medical Professional Liability insurance industry has posted excellent underwriting results for the past decade," said Jerry Theodorou, Vice President, Insurance Research at Conning. "However, that performance has created conditions that now present significant problems to insurers in the industry—particularly related to growth. Rates have declined dramatically over those ten years, along with exposures, leading to a 26% decline in premium. This in turn has led to an increasingly competitive environment for insurers—which they are responding to with more liberal policy conditions and terms."

The Conning study, "Medical Professional Liability Insurance: Rough Ride Ahead—Consolidation Coming?" reviews the state of the market, including deterioration in fundamentals, changes in the health care environment, developing tort trends, and loss trends. Further, the study looks at a number of strategies for insurers operating in this difficult environment.

"Medical Professional Liability insurers have built strong surplus positions, which is spurring insurers to pursue alternatives to address their growth prospects and substantial capital bases," said Steve Webersen, Head of Insurance Research at Conning. "Loss reserves have been and remain redundant, which has resulted in large reserve releases over the past decade. These releases, however, mask the underlying profitability trends for this line. Despite the growth and profitability challenges, our analysis did find some very successful strategies being pursued by insurers including product and geographic expansion, providing ancillary services and merger activity, which we expect has only just begun for MPL insurers."

"Medical Professional Liability Insurance: Rough Ride Ahead—Consolidation Coming?" is available for purchase from Conning by calling (888) 707-1177 or by visiting the company's web site at www.conningresearch.com.

About Conning^®
Conning (www.conning.com) is a leading investment management company for the global insurance industry, with over $88 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2015, through Conning, Inc., Conning Asset Management Limited, Cathay Conning Asset Management Limited, Goodwin Capital Advisers, Inc., Octagon Credit Investors, LLC and Conning Investment Products, Inc. that are all direct or indirect subsidiaries of Conning Holdings Limited ("Conning") which is one of the family of companies owned by Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd., a Taiwan-based company. The company's unique combination of asset management, insurance and software solutions and insurance research helps clients achieve their financial goals through customized business and investment strategies. Founded in 1912, Conning provides clients with innovative solutions, leveraging its global capabilities, investment experience, proprietary research and risk management technology. Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, Conning also delivers its services globally through its offices in New York, London, Cologne, and Hong Kong and has an office in Tokyo.