While the industry has proven resilient over time, with no financially impaired surplus lines companies in the last nine years, there are always challenges to address, including the devastating impacts of recent natural catastrophes and generating stable investment returns in a recovering economy. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the industry, however, is for the E&S professionals who work in it to effectively tell their story.

“Those of us who work in this industry know the value a wholesaler brings to an insurance transaction,” says Matt Nichols, All Risks President and NAPSLO's 2012-2013 President. “Many retail agents also understand that value, but we still have a distance to go in helping the industry fully understand the ways in which a wholesaler's expertise can help them strengthen client relationships.”

According to Kevin Westrope, President/CEO Westrope and NAPSLO's 2013-2014 President, one of the association's key initiatives for the coming year will be to more comprehensively incorporate the wholesale value message into all of the Association's communication efforts. “NAPSLO member wholesalers are not just technical experts but are also innovators,” he says. “The Association is comprised of professionals who conduct business with the very highest level of integrity and professionalism and we're proud of the value that we bring to a transaction. We need to collectively and cooperatively advocate for the value of the wholesaler.”