Bermudian-headquartered Banyan Risk Ltd, the specialty managing general agent, has announced the expansion of its casualty platform into the United States excess and surplus market.

The new E&S offering will be led by Alan Rodrigues, chief executive officer of global casualty, and will support Banyan’s continued buildout of a dedicated US casualty underwriting team. Insurance capacity will be provided by Accredited Specialty Insurance Company, part of Accredited America.

The expansion extends a casualty franchise Banyan has been building since 2024, when Mr Rodrigues joined the business to establish its Bermuda excess liability operation. Banyan intends to hire additional experienced casualty underwriters across the US as it broadens distribution, product capability and geographic reach.

Mr Rodrigues said: “Casualty is a market where experience, patience and technical discipline matter enormously. Loss costs continue to evolve, and the best opportunities are not created by simply adding capacity; they come from understanding the underlying risk, selecting the right attachments, and structures, and maintaining consistency through the cycle.

“We have built a strong casualty platform in Bermuda, and I am excited to extend that capability into the US E&S market and to continue adding talented underwriters across the country.”

Tim Usher-Jones, co-CEO of Banyan Risk, said: “For the last five years, we have deliberately invested in building the chassis of Banyan before trying to maximise scale.

“We have built out the underwriting leadership, operating infrastructure, technology, data, controls, and carrier relationships needed to grow a stable multiline MGA. We believe that foundation now gives us the ability to expand with credibility and discipline.

“US E&S casualty is a natural next step: it is a large, sophisticated market where specialist judgment matters, and Alan has the experience and leadership to build it the right way.”

The launch comes at a time when the US E&S market is playing an increasingly important role in complex commercial risk, the company said.

This year, Risk Placement Services reported that overall E&S premiums increased 13.2 per cent year on year to $46.2 billion in the first half of 2025, with casualty representing more than 52 per cent of E&S direct premiums written.

S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its April 2026 analysis that in 2025, US domestic E&S direct premiums written stood at $105.31 billion, up 7.8 per cent, year on year, adding that liability and casualty coverages accounted for 54.9 per cent of E&S premiums.

Mr Usher-Jones added: “Rising loss severity, social inflation, litigation financing and changing admitted-market appetite are increasing the need for specialist underwriting, technical pricing and flexible E&S solutions.

“We believe those conditions create an attractive environment for disciplined long-term growth rather than growth for its own sake. The US casualty business will combine experienced underwriting judgment with Banyan’s data-driven, technology-enabled operating model, using portfolio analytics and structured underwriting workflows to support consistent risk selection and scalable execution.”