Several recent players entered or r...

Several recent players entered or returned to the exces and surplus market last year, drawn in by way of a hardening market and the migration of several business classes from standard companies.

Now, rates are softening again. "We're coming against a period in the period that the excess and surplus market fives for--a hard market," said Thomas Mulligan, executive vice president of underwriting and marketing for Western World Insurance cluster Despite that, some E&S carriers say it is still an exciting time to be in the market.

"A scarcely any years ago we witnessed phenomena that signaled a continued