Blog · Board and management reporting · Insurance brokers
How a commercial insurance broker measures the share of premium placed with each carrier per line of business from the placement ledger, why a concentrated line is both a leverage point and a risk, the trend that shows a market quietly taking over a line, and the clients whose whole programme sits with one carrier.
A broker's placement team knows who they place with. What the placement ledger shows, rolled up, is that one market now writes 58 percent of the property line, up from 31 percent three years ago, and that forty clients' programmes sit entirely with it. This guide sets out carrier concentration per line, the trend, and the client-level view.
Per line, per period:
Top-carrier share = premium with the largest carrier ÷ premium in the line Carriers to half = carriers, largest first, needed to reach half the premium
Per client:
Programme concentration = premium with the client's largest carrier ÷ the client's total premium
Client and carrier identifiers only.
line premium = Σ carriers = Σ clients
A policy with no carrier, common on binders not yet allocated, fails it and is listed.
| Line | Premium | Top carrier share | Three years ago | Carriers to half | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property | $42m | 58% | 31% | 1 | Consolidating |
| Casualty | $38m | 24% | 26% | 3 | Spread |
| Professional | $19m | 41% | 44% | 2 | Stable |
| Cyber | $8m | 67% | 70% | 1 | Thin market |
Property has moved from a spread line to a single-market line in three years. Cyber has always been concentrated because the market is thin, and the report distinguishes the two by showing the trend.
| Client | Premium | Lines | Largest carrier share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2207 | $1.4m | 4 | 100% |
| 4471 | $920,000 | 3 | 100% |
| 9034 | $610,000 | 5 | 84% |
Forty clients at 100 percent with one carrier, $18m of premium. If that carrier changes appetite, the placement team has forty remarketing exercises in one season, and the list is the order to do them in.
Carrier subsidiaries counted separately. Three entities of one group look like three carriers. Roll up by group.
Concentration read as a problem by default. The property line may be concentrated because that carrier is the best market. The report says what; the placement team says whether.
No trend. A concentrated line is a fact; a consolidating line is a finding.
Client level skipped. The line looks fine at 40 percent and forty clients are at 100.
Mapped once, the placement ledger and the carrier master produce concentration per line, the trend, and the client list every quarter. Covirage builds this from the exports as they are. The insurance brokers page describes the setup, and the placement share guide covers the client-side share that sits beside carrier concentration.
It is a fact with two readings. High concentration gives the broker negotiating weight and a partner relationship. It also means a market appetite change or a withdrawal moves a large share of the book at once. The report shows it; the placement team decides.
Per client, the share of their programme's premium with their largest carrier. A client at 100 percent with one carrier across four lines has a programme that reprices together. The list is those clients, ranked by premium.
Top-carrier share per line this year against the last three. A line where the top carrier's share rose ten points while the carrier count fell is a line consolidating, and the report says so before the renewal season does.