As natural catastrophes proved once again to be few and the Property & Casualty industry continued to be viewed as an attractive investment for alternative-capital sources looking to place their bets, carriers looking to get rate in a market made increasingly competitive—and soft—had different ideas about how to achieve growth.

Which is to say, insurers put on a brave face and wondered just how they were supposed to take back share, in conditions like these.

For some, that answer came in the form of merger and acquisition deals executed to achieve scale. Long-inadequate investment returns from low interest rates, in addition to fierce competition on pricing, have created an environment in which to many, size does in fact matter—and leverage is needed. As many analysts expected, M&A became a popular strategy for putting available capital to work and to bolster return on equity in 2015.

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Shawn Moynihan

Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].

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