Underwriting perspectives – Mike Sherry, Head of DUAL Transactional Risk on renewed strength, reimagined capacity and retained discipline

“Underwriting discipline is our North Star; it drives our ability to bring transparency and efficiency to clients, brokers and insurers.” - Mike Sherry 

Mike Sherry, Head of DUAL Transactional Risk, joins us for our first Underwriting Perspectives, showcasing the renewed strength behind the program and how additional capacity will allow this committed and disciplined team to thrive in a shifting market. Below, Mike shares his expertise and perspective on the Transactional Risk market. 

Q: Mike, can you share some background about your team, including how your team approaches risk, your appetite and how your coverage is structured?  

A: The DUAL Transactional Risk team is growing rapidly yet remaining true to our core, which is delivering market-leading RWI and tax liability insurance solutions. Our priorities are speed, certainty, and expertise which enable us to deliver better deals, stronger protection and competitive advantages for our insureds.  

We specialize in small to middle-market representations and warranties and tax liability insurance, targeting industrials, manufacturing, real estate, SaaS and roll up M&A targets, along with renewable tax credit deals. We currently avoid healthcare, crypto and gambling, and a few more key exclusions, and by being firm in our focus, we’ve been able to deliver better results to partners. Our appetite ranges from $10-20 million EV (enterprise value) up to $100 million EV with plans to expand into the $250-500 million EV range as our capacity expands. There's a lot of aggregation in our sector but our ability to manage this risk effectively ensures we deliver to our capacity partners a strong, balanced book of business. 

Q: How does your team’s underwriting discipline benefit partners in an evolving risk landscape? 

A: Underwriting discipline is our North Star; it drives our ability to bring transparency and efficiency to clients, brokers and insurers. Given the complexity of the underwriting process, our focus is on execution, efficient workflows and creative solutions. As our program has grown, we’ve been able to build a strong brand for our product where there's consistency and standardization to the products we deliver. Partners have confidence that no matter which underwriter they work with, they’ll receive the same high-quality output.  

Also, deeply important to us and to our market is creativity. The universe of risk in the modern world is always expanding and we adapt by developing new solutions, adjusting coverages and staying ahead of emerging exposures. From global events to industry changes, the landscape is constantly shifting, and our role is to adapt quickly. In a volatile market, our expertise, discipline and agility provide necessary stability for partners.   

Q: Transactional risk is a constantly shifting market. With overall market capacity shrinking, how does your program’s recently secured capacity strengthen DUAL’s position?  

A: We’re seeing market capacity tighten, largely due to more aggressive terms, inadequate pricing and an increase in claims. From an inside perspective, all the ingredients are there for a market correction, but it will take some time.  

Fortunately, in contrast with that trend, we’ve strengthened our position by onboarding a new panel of carriers, with a strong leading market that’s got an impressive financial rating of “A+ XV” from A.M. Best. Our program is designed to allow our carrier partners to take bite-sized risks that favor their appetite and portfolio, while still allowing us to support a significant appetite of risks. Both the financial strength and diversity of our carrier partners on this program allow us to be an important market in this space, providing capacity for transactions that are anticipated this year. In a market where capacity is tightening, we’re providing a highly sought-after solution.   

Q: DUAL Transactional Risk has an in-house claims team. How does that support the overall success of the team? 

A: While our success is largely pinpointed to the hard work of our underwriters, all of whom are seasoned M&A attorneys, I can’t understate how impactful having a claims expert in-house has been.  One notable addition to our team has been Jane Horne, Transactional Risk Claims Lead, whose leadership has been instrumental in our ability to handle, manage and settle claims efficiently and in a way that’s favorable to both sides.  

Having someone on staff who is an expert specifically in Transactional Risk claims differentiates us in how quickly and efficiently we handle those claims. One of the stand-out benefits of this in-house claims expert is the ability to keep an ongoing feedback loop between claims, underwriting and carrier partners. Jane meets weekly with the underwriting team, which helps solve for emerging risks and sustainable, well-structured solutions. 

Q: So, what’s next in the Transactional Risk space and how is your team actively adapting? 

A: We’re focused on a few key areas:  

• Speed to market: Brokers value teams who ask the right questions and respond both quickly and accurately. By staying active, aggressive and informed, we’ll maintain underwriting precision and effectively be able to support our partner’s ongoing needs. 

• Capacity expansion: Our goal is to expand our panel to a larger group of diverse insurers, allowing us to be nimble across different risks and eventually, more jurisdictions. Over time, this will allow us to refine our capacity by appetite, enabling balanced solutions for various sectors.  

• Emerging risks: As an increasingly global economy constantly introduces new economic uncertainties, our job gets more important because we’re being asked to write what is meant to be broad and valuable coverage for more complex exposures. One major emerging risk is AI, in the sense that part of our underwriting process will now need to include an assessment of the responsible use of AI within the businesses that we insure.  

• Technology and innovation: The transactional risk team works alongside DUAL North America’s data and actuarial teams to leverage data, actuarial insights and proprietary technology to streamline processes, enhance service and constantly improve what we’re doing. Our data and technology outperform even some of the more sizable insurance operations in the industry with a constant initiative to improve it. As our technology evolves, our workflows will continue to be improved from a historically entirely manual process to a more intelligent process that still invites heavy oversight from our experts.  

DUAL Transactional Risk is the premier provider of transactional risk coverage - dedicated to underwriting excellence and superior service. Specializing in representations and warranties and tax liability across a variety of industries, we're your partner for all small to middle-market transactions.  

For more information about our DUAL Transactional Risk program, you can reach Mike at [email protected] or visit dualinsurance.com/transactional-risk.