At a time when new capacity is coming into the inland marine market, professionals in the sector are wondering if there are enough talented underwriters to go around.

Some complain that the insurance industry in general has not invested much time or money into training new talent for around 10 years, and the problems that are arising because of this are being felt particularly hard in specialty lines like inland marine.

With the lack of trained professionals, new entrants in the market have been either using in-house underwriters with little or no experience in inland marine, or hiring away talent from other companies--who might then be poached by another insurer in a professional shuffle that Ron Thornton, president of the Inland Marine Underwriters Association, called "musical chairs."