The longest hard market in recent history is showing signs of softening. As rates begin to stabilize and competition picks back up, independent insurance agency owners will find their priorities shifting from navigating a hard market’s obstacles to sustaining growth as conditions soften.
Transitioning to a Buyer’s Market
As every agent knows, a soft market is essentially a buyer’s market, defined by an excess of insurer capacity that can aid in addressing risks. Shifting catastrophe trends have played a significant role in the softening market. For the last decade, the market has experienced $100 billion in annual catastrophe losses.
While industry models previously considered that figure to be high, new modeling accounts for $150 billion annually. What used to be an astronomical number is now accounted for in expected losses. This new dynamic has helped create additional market capacity, reinforced by reinsurance developments.
Property, for example, is projected to be down from 5% to 20% for catastrophe exposed risks and flat-to-down 10% for higher quality risks. These factors have all contributed to what is shaping up to be the softest market in nearly 10 years.
What a Soft Market Means
While a softer market does ignite competition and offer insureds more options, for independent agents, the change in market may not present a simple transition.
Insurance carriers are recalibrating their strategies in real time. Many of these same carriers performed well financially in 2024 and 2025, and they will continue to make adjustments going forward for profitability. For example, it is not uncommon today for a carrier to accommodate specific lines over entire accounts, opting out of writing one line in an account that does not align with a carrier’s goals or appetite. This creates a moving target for independent agents as they navigate the best way to partner with carriers whose priorities are changing and align with the risks they seek to place.
Read Full Article written by James Keane, The Agent Alliance’s Vice President, National Sales, published April 17, 2026, in The Standard. Reprinted with permission from The Standard, Copyright 2026, Standard Publishing Corporation, Boston, MA. All rights reserved.