Across the world, MGAs, InsurTechs, and coverholders are seeking ways to remain agile as customer expectations shift and specialty risks become increasingly complex. Yet finding dependable capacity, particularly for non-standard or catastrophe-exposed business, remains one of the industry’s most persistent challenges.
Working with the right specialist Lloyd’s broker can be a defining advantage. This article explores how the Lloyd’s market offers opportunities that domestic carriers often cannot match, and how Costero’s Global Specialty team helps turn challenging portfolios into scalable, long-term programmes.
Where Standard Markets Stop – Specialty Insurance Starts:
Specialty risks often sit outside traditional rating models or standard wordings. You may be dealing with:
- Catastrophe-exposed or non-standard property: U.S. coastal wind, European flood zones, REO portfolios, high-value homes, mixed-use real estate.
- Complex commercial risks: chemical-handling facilities, hospitality portfolios, distressed assets or unusual occupancies.
- Emerging and specialty classes: SME cyber, renewable energy, professional lines, affinity programmes, and A&H—often distributed via MGAs or digital platforms.
These scenarios typically require:
- Greater line size flexibility
- Bespoke, expert-driven wordings
- Multi-territory and multi-discipline capability
In short: specialty insurance provides solutions where domestic markets may not be positioned to respond fully.
The Lloyd’s Delegated Authority Environment: More Capacity, Greater Nuance
Even in a period of increasing global capacity, the specialty landscape remains complex. Current market themes include:
- Elevated nat-cat volatility: Insured catastrophe losses reached approximately USD $80 billion in H1 2025, the second highest first-half total on record (Source: Swiss Re).
- Pricing easing from a high base: Global commercial rates decreased around 4% in Q2–Q3 2025, reflecting stronger competition after several years of increases (Source: Marsh).
- Reinsurance shifts: Property-catastrophe reinsurance pricing saw an estimated 8% risk-adjusted decrease over the prior year, though still above historical levels (Source: Howden).
There is more capacity in the market—but it remains selective, data-led and focused on sustainability. This is where the unique characteristics of Lloyd’s become invaluable.
Why Domestic Markets Often Cannot Meet Specialty Needs
Across North America, Europe, the UK and Australasia, domestic insurers frequently face structural limitations when handling specialty risks:
- Narrow appetites on catastrophe-exposed or non-standard property
- Capacity ceilings that restrict the ability to support large or complex portfolios
- Limited product flexibility for affinity, embedded or tech-enabled models
- Slower decision-making on off-template or innovative propositions
This is why so much specialty business gravitates toward Excess & Surplus (E&S) markets and why brokers increasingly turn to Lloyd’s, where specialist underwriting expertise and global licensing create a broader spectrum of solutions.
What the London Market and Lloyd’s Offer
The London Market remains the world’s leading centre for specialty and commercial risk, writing roughly USD $160 billion in premium annually (Source: London Market Group).
Within this ecosystem, Lloyd’s provides:
- A global licensing network: around 80 direct licences and reinsurance access in 200+ territories.
- A-rated, ring-fenced capital: ideal for delegated authority and programme business.
- Deep specialist expertise: with syndicates that understand niche classes and distribution models.
- A uniquely physical marketplace: enabling brokers to meet multiple underwriters in a day and negotiate solutions in real time.
To unlock this value, however, firms need a Lloyd’s broker who understands which syndicates have the right appetite, how to structure enduring facilities, and how to position portfolios effectively for long-term support.
How Costero’s Global Specialty Team Helps You Win
Costero has a Global Specialty division dedicated specifically to the evolving needs of MGAs, coverholders, brokers and InsurTechs.
Experience and relationships that matter:
- Experienced team with extensive expertise in Specialty and Delegated Authority.
- Long-standing relationships across 80+ Lloyd’s syndicates, the wider London company market, and leading carriers in Europe, Australia, Bermuda and the U.S.
- As an independent, 60-person Lloyd’s broker, Costero offers the scale to secure meaningful capacity while remaining agile, collaborative and highly client-focused.
Delegated Authority Designed for Scalable Growth
Our capabilities span:
- Property & Casualty (including wildfire, flood, earthquake, wind)
- Energy
- Professional Lines (PI, D&O, FI, Crime)
- Cyber, Affinity, Accident & Health
We specialise in structuring and managing profitable binding authorities across the U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia including large, distributed portfolios requiring sophisticated data handling.
Our focus: transforming risks into credible, coherent portfolios that resonate with specialist underwriters.
Supporting Your Development as a Lloyd’s Coverholder
Whether you’re launching an MGA, expanding into new classes, or scaling internationally, we guide clients through:
- The Lloyd’s coverholder approval and onboarding process
- Introductions to aligned syndicates
- Binder structuring, optimisation and multi-year facility design
With Lloyd’s increasingly emphasising coherent programme-based delegated authority business, strong broker guidance is critical to long-term delegated authority success.
Agile, Relationship-Driven Service
Specialty business often with annual GWP of USD $5m–$100m are central to Costero’s identity, not a peripheral segment. Clients work directly with senior brokers who own their relationships and deliver:
- Swift turnaround and clear, consistent communication
- High-quality data and reporting for regulators, carriers and internal teams
- Seamless collaboration with Costero’s open-market specialists where needed
Our team supports ongoing portfolio performance management, ensuring data quality, compliance, and transparency that align with Lloyd’s evolving oversight standards.
Preparing for the Future of Specialty Insurance
Looking to 2026 and beyond, several trends are reshaping specialty distribution:
- Catastrophe patterns and secondary perils continue to challenge standard appetites (Source: Swiss Re).
- Although pricing is softening, underwriters are prioritising portfolio quality and sustainability (Source: Howden).
- MGAs, coverholders and InsurTechs are taking an expanded role in distribution (Source: Lloyd’s).
To thrive, you need not only access to Lloyd’s—but a broker fully immersed in delegated authority and specialty markets.
Costero’s Global Specialty Team: Your Partner in Growth
If you’re looking to place complex property exposures, build a specialty programme, or scale a delegated authority platform, we’re here to help.
To discuss your portfolio or explore Lloyd’s opportunities, connect with:
Ollie Daws and Olivia Tallarida, Global Specialty, Costero Brokers.
