DATASORA

The global data-center insurance market is about $11bn today and projected past $24bn by 2030. Fire drives severity — more than half of ~$800m of studied losses. Demand is stretching from builders risk into BI, power, and cyber-physical.

• Swiss Re Institute is the $11bn → $24bn source tape.
• Water damage is the frequency story; fire is the severity story.
• Integrated construction-to-operate covers at hyperscale values are still scarce.

Analyst note — New white space, not a rate story yet. Sompo’s construction, property, energy, and cyber desks will see the same submission. The question is who can authorize the whole stack.

IMA’s Q2 2026 tape: commercial property led the decline at −5.5% as three-quarters of carriers added capacity. Cyber −3.5%. D&O −2.1%, the eighth consecutive down quarter. Workers’ compensation also printed decreases.

• Property loss ratio improved to 85% YE 2025 even after California wildfires and SCS.
• Cyber threat activity is intensifying — identity-based attacks, BEC, third-party — while rates still fall.
• Excess D&O capacity remains abundant; buyers are expanding limits.

Analyst note — This is the oversupply map. Non-CAT property, cyber, and public D&O are crowded. The money is in the classes that did not get this capital: auto, excess construction casualty, older property.

Effective tariff rates on construction goods hit a 40-year high of 25–30% in 2025, with steel and aluminum as high as 50%. Policies written on last year’s values are already underinsured.

• Deloitte’s 2026 E&C outlook is the source tape brokers are using in renewal meetings.
• Labor gaps plus material inflation push completed-value calculations through the year.
• More capacity entered builders risk, which is why non-CAT pricing loosened even as values rose.

Analyst note — Underinsurance is a claims event waiting. Sompo construction underwriters should be forcing mid-term value endorsements, not waiting for the next bound layer.

Ground-up non-CAT builders risk is stable to softening (−5% to +10%). Primary OCIP/CCIP is orderly; umbrella and excess liability still prints +5% to +30% depending on account and attachment.

• Gallagher has reported single-layer builders-risk decreases of 5–7% in non-CAT zones.
• Inland marine stays competitive even for contractors with some adverse loss history.
• CAT-exposed and high-hazard projects do not get the same relief.

Analyst note — Sompo can be relevant on non-CAT builders risk and wrap primary. The money — and the differentiation — is still in excess casualty, delay-in-start, and CAT-adjacent project property.

AXA XL’s construction property desk called 2025 a softer turning point after years of hardening: more flexibility, more capacity, more openness to complex projects — and stricter underwriting where climate CAT is real.

• ABC estimated ~439k net new construction hires in 2025 and ~499k in 2026 if spending accelerates.
• Cost inflation in labor, materials, and supply chain is still pushing insured values up.
• 2026 outlook: steadier pricing plus proactive risk mitigation, not a race to the bottom.

Analyst note — Competitors are leaning in on complex non-CAT work. Sompo’s construction franchise, now including Aspen’s U.K. property & construction specialty, should be on those same accounts.