EY has launched its growth playbook for speciality insurers navigating a softening market, new competitive pressures and opportunities for technological innovation.

EY said that after a long period of hardening rates, the market is evolving, characterised by tighter underwriting margins, slowing premium growth and lower returns on capital.

Among the key insights the playbook is said to include are how C-suites and boards can refine strategic priorities to modify operations to optimise efficiency, while also investing for future growth.

The playbook recommends three actions for speciality insurers to take to thrive in a softening market and equip their businesses for long-term success:

• Rigorously assess the underwriting portfolio: make informed decisions on which business lines to exit and which to invest in, guided by a formalised assessment process and input from stakeholders across the business to help define price adequacy

• Evaluate every expense: seek sustainable cost reduction targets in line with a lean and future-fit operating model designed to promote more sophisticated and profitable underwriting, supported by investment in automation and data management technology

• Find new pools of opportunity: explore lower-cost models and diverse markets, mergers and acquisitions, new product development and geographical expansion

Craig Redcliffe, EY Bermuda partner and regional insurance leader, said: “In a market showing signs of softening, insurers typically respond by reducing costs or pursuing growth opportunities, but those moves can backfire if they’re not anchored in careful strategy. The playbook provides a road map for insurance leaders to navigate uncertainty with confidence.”

Simon Burtwell, EY Bermuda partner and regional consulting leader, said: “The big opportunity for carriers lies in building leaner, more adaptive operating models that can flex with market conditions. In a shifting market, clarity of purpose and thoughtful execution will count more than ever.

“The winners will be carriers who take a disciplined approach to underwriting portfolio optimisation and innovation that can deliver sustained operational efficiency. Long-term vision will distinguish those who emerge stronger from this cycle.”