Guest: Dave Obenauer, CEO, CRC Group
Host: Andrew Kligerman, Managing Director, Insurance, TD Cowen
In a wide-ranging discussion, we meet with CRC Group CEO Dave Obenauer. Speaking with TD Cowen senior insurance analyst Andrew Kligerman, Dave reinforces that excess and surplus (E&S) growth is increasingly structural—not merely a function of the underwriting cycle. He presents a “riskier world” and more complex, volatile exposures steadily pushing business into the channel alongside the continued maturation of wholesalers and purpose-built carrier platforms.
While near-term property rate pressure remains a clear drag on premium, CRC Group still sees mid-single-digit organic growth as a reasonable base case this year. Dave also shares the position of AI less as a disintermediating threat and more as a durable advantage for scaled wholesalers with strong data, investment capacity and embedded market relationship, supporting faster, more differentiated solutions and incremental margin expansion. Strategically, CRC’s combination of distribution and underwriting services (without taking underwriting profit and loss (P&L) risk) creates a compounding flywheel, further reinforced by improving talent attraction and retention tools, even as long-run growth remains constrained by producer supply.
Listen to additional podcast episodes for more perspectives from a variety of thought leaders on key themes influencing markets, industries and the global economy today.
This podcast was originally recorded on May 4, 2026.
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