- Leadership Lens · Q2 2026
The soft market is not a break.
It is a test.Each edition, a member of SPG Canada’s leadership team shares their read on the Canadian specialty market — what’s shifting, what it means for brokers, and where we’re directing our focus.
In a soft market, brokers have options — more markets, more capacity, more choice. That is a good thing. But here is what few people talk about: the soft cycle does not just test your clients. It tests your partners too.
When the market hardens — and it will — you will be able to see clearly who showed up for you when they did not have to. That is the question we have been asking ourselves as a leadership team. Not “how do we stay competitive on price?” but “how do we show up in a way that actually matters to our brokers right now?”
The answer we keep coming back to is simpler than we expected: be present, be accessible, and be the partner in the room — literally.
Underwriting desk days
We have been doing something that sounds almost too straightforward: we send our underwriters into your office for the day. Our people sit with your team, and if a submission comes across the desk, we quote it right there in real time — no back and forth over email, no waiting on a turnaround. Just a conversation between people who know the business.
What we have found is that this changes the dynamic entirely. It is not just about speed, though that matters. It is about trust. When your broker can look an underwriter in the eye and ask “what would actually make this work?” that is a different conversation than what happens over email, and that is where real partnership gets built.
A word of caution
Soft markets have a way of creating short-term habits with long-term consequences, and there are two risks worth naming here.
Risk oneThe temptation to lead with priceWhen capacity is abundant, quoting the lowest number feels like the right move — but clients who chose you because you were cheapest will leave the moment someone else is cheaper. That is not a book worth building.
Risk twoUnderestimating coverage gapsMore options does not always mean better coverage, and soft markets can create a false sense of security. The brokers who use this moment to review coverage properly and educate their clients on what is actually ahead — those are the ones who will have loyal, sticky relationships when conditions shift.
Two brokers. One future market.
Picture two brokers today, both operating in the same soft market.
Broker oneBuilding deep MGA relationships, educating clients, and growing their book with intention.When the market hardens, this broker has a network of partners ready to go to bat for their clients and a book built on trust.
Broker twoChasing every competitive quote, moving markets when the price is right.When the market hardens, this broker is scrambling for markets and working with clients who are already shopping around.
The soft market did not create that difference — it just revealed it.
We are committed to being in your corner — not just as a market, but as a partner who shows up. If you want to talk about bringing an underwriting desk day to your office, let us make it happen. That conversation starts with us.
Let us make it happenThat conversation starts with us.
If you want to talk about bringing an underwriting desk day to your office, reach out directly. Our underwriting team is one conversation away.
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