This year’s “Hot Markets” report for property/casualty insurance agents and brokers includes some not-so-usual suspects along with tried-and-true markets enjoying growth. Insurance Journal examined industries experiencing recent change and expansion. Here are the top market sectors that promise opportunities for the property/casualty insurance industry in 2015.
Construction
Overall, construction might be the hottest market in 2015. Construction payrolls are increasing, more projects are coming online and the scope of work is increasing. And according to Lockton Co.’s construction insurance specialists, insurance coverage is generally available for both commercial and residential projects and pricing is stable with a few exceptions.
Total U.S. construction starts for 2015 are predicted to rise 9 percent to $612 billion, almost double from the 2014’s estimated 5 percent increase to $564 billion, according to the 2015 Dodge Construction Outlook…
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Mergers and Acquisitions
The merger and acquisition (M&A) space has attracted some new capacity recently as several insurers have launched new transactional risk practices. This increase in capacity is most likely in response to a huge increase in demand.
According to Marsh’s Annual Transactional Risk Report released this month, there was a 36 percent increase in policies placed and a 51 percent increase in limits placed globally by Marsh to $7.7 billion in 2014. The limits placed in the U.S. rose to $2.7 billion in 2014…
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Small Business
The small business market is a huge driver of economic growth, historically representing about half the private U.S. gross domestic product and accounting for half of the total private sector workforce.
NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said earlier this month that in spite of slow economic activity, small business owners are finding reasons to hire and spend…
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IT: Software and Service
It’s no surprise to see tech-related industries in any hot market report. Computer technology in general is an industry enjoying healthy growth, but IT services are performing particularly well.
Whether it’s offering on-site management systems or designing systems, the sales growth in this sector grew by 15 percent in the past year…
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Data Security
Data security and protection is and will continue to be a hot market as well delivering opportunities for agents and brokers selling cyber related coverages.
The rising number of cyber-attacks is a growing threat to the business community. High-profile cyber incidents in 2014 reflected the expanding spectrum of cyber threats…
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Marijuana
A hot market for some niche specialists is marijuana.
According to governing.com, 23 states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing it in some form. Four of those states – Washington, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon – have legalized it for recreational use. And parts of the country that have historically said “no” to allowing the legal use of the drug for medical purposes are now evaluating laws to allow it, including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina…
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Extreme Sports
The trend toward more dangerous and extreme sports like “Tough Mudder” and “Iron Man” triathlons and non-traditional sports activities has been staggering, according to a 2014 report by the American Bar Association (ABA). Tough Mudder has grown from three events and 20,000 participants in 2010 to 35 events with more than 460,000 participants in 2012, the report found.
Runningusa.org reports that non-traditional running events drew a record 4 million participants in 2013, surpassing the record 2.5 million finishers of both the half-marathon and marathon combined the year before. With each event charging a per participant registration fee of $50 and up, these races are turning into big business…
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