Long Island chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (“CFMA”) in association with the New York City Surety Association

Many thanks to the Long Island chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (“CFMA”) in association with the New York City Surety Association for inviting me to speak as a panelist on “The State of the Surety Industry: Challenges and Opportunities in 2026.”  I enjoyed speaking among my fellow panelists: Joseph Cieri, Sr. Core Contract Home Office Underwriter at Liberty Mutual Surety, Brian Fiore, Co-Leader of Surety Reinsurance at AON and Barry Shabashkevich, Vice President, Contract Surety East at Sompo.I understand it was their highest attended event yet, with over 100 participants.  Discussion topics included: loss ratios on both the national and state levels, loss severity, surety reinsurance loss trends and reinsurance structures, loss severity impact on reinsurance, underwriting contract surety, implementation of Artificial Intelligence in surety underwriting, digging into the “4th C” in underwriting contract surety: “cooperation”, and the top reasons for contractor defaults.A recent SFAA loss severity study reported that jobs under $2.5mm have a probable expected loss of 57%, compared with a probable expected loss of 13% for jobs in the $100mm to $250mm range. I noted the significant increased risk that sureties that rely on credit only underwriting (without any additional financial documentation) are taking on in the $2.5mm and under space. Special thanks to Louis J. Spina, Senior Vice President – Surety at Alliant Insurance Services for organizing the event and facilitating an informative and lively discussion.