Banyan Risk, the specialty managing general agent (MGA), has announced the expansion of its Casualty platform into the United States excess and surplus (E&S) market.
Insurance capacity will be provided by Accredited Specialty Insurance Company, part of Accredited America, positioning Banyan Risk to deliver specialised excess casualty solutions across high-demand US commercial segments.
Alan Rodrigues, Chief Executive Officer of Global Casualty, will lead the new E&S initiative. His leadership will drive Banyan’s continued build-out of a dedicated US casualty underwriting team.
The expansion extends a casualty franchise Banyan has been building since 2024, when Rodrigues joined the business to establish its Bermuda Excess Liability operation.
To enhance its geographic presence, product capability and market reach, Banyan intends to hire additional experienced casualty underwriters across the US.
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 maximize scale. We have built out the underwriting leadership, operating infrastructure, technology, data, controls, and carrier relationships needed to grow a stable multi-line 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. This year Risk Placement Services reported that overall E&S premiums increased 13.2% year on year to $46.2 billion in H1 2025, with casualty representing more than 52% of E&S direct premiums written.
Additionally, S&P Global Market Intelligence found that 2025 US domestic E&S direct premiums reached $105.31 billion, up 7.8% year on year, with liability and casualty coverages representing 54.9%.
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.”
According to the announcement, the US casualty expansion advances Banyan’s strategy to integrate specialist underwriting units onto a shared platform. Future growth targets include additional property lines further expansion of the casualty division, and other specialty classes.
Banyan’s strategy is to add experienced underwriting teams where it believes its shared infrastructure, technology, data and capacity relationships can support sustainable, profitable sustainable growth.
Rodrigues commented: “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.”
