From left, Morgan Long, Paul O'Leary and Daniel Tuckwell

This year Epsilon Underwriting will celebrate a quarter of a century of providing specialist risk solutions – and it’s busy laying the groundwork to position itself for more success in years to come.

The company has focused on carefully considered strategic moves to solidify its market presence, with an eye on the future.

In 2024 it combined forces with Wellington Underwriting and Aster to create a business with more than $150 million in gross written premium.

And in July, it strengthened its array of expertise when marine underwriter RedSky Insurance became part of the company under a partnership agreement.

“We have been true to our word and consistent with our capacity and our brokers,” CEO Morgan Long says.

“And we have always done right by our clients. Everyone’s very proud and I’m excited to see where we go in the next 25 years and beyond.

“We hope to offer other product lines in the future and be a safe pair of hands for our clients … That’s what we want the market to know.”

The expansion approach adopted by Epsilon has proved effective as the industry passes through different market phases.

Whether it’s a hard or soft cycle, Epsilon has remained a reliable risk solutions provider for brokers and clients because it has carefully grown its stable of offerings.

“We try to find businesses that are aligned … but also provide us with expertise in a different sector that we don’t always play in,” Mr Long says.

Epsilon started as a casualty underwriting agency when Peter and Lynn O’Shea founded the business in a garage in Paddington, Sydney.

“We then bolted on property and contract works and now we have marine,” Mr Long says.

“So we’re bringing in people with the right skill set and the same service mentality that Epsilon has to complement our business, add more offerings to our clients and provide a higher level of technical capability so that our broking partners are getting an expert in each of those fields.”

Chief underwriting officer Paul O’Leary says feedback from brokers and clients to the agency’s expanding suite of offerings has been positive.

“Epsilon is a well-known brand within the Australian market. It’s known for its service. It’s known for its product. It’s known for its technical ability. And when you add these other businesses in, everyone knows they’re going to get that same expertise that we are known for.”

That pool of risk expertise that Epsilon has built up is especially evident in situations where brokers have found it difficult to secure cover for clients.

“We look for ways to write business, not take the easy way to say ‘Oh, that’s too hard for us. Let’s push it away’. When others are saying no to a certain class of business, that’s music to our ears,” Mr O’Leary says.

“That’s where we like to step in and say ‘Let’s see if there’s a way that we can do this’.”

Epsilon aims to mark its 25-year milestone by continuing its legacy, expertise and service.
Looking ahead, it believes machines won’t ever replace people in the underwriting decision-making phase, but they do have a role to play.

“AI is really important to us … but you can’t negotiate with a computer or AI to get a result,” Mr Long says.

“The ability to continue to pick up the phone and talk to an underwriter … that has been our success over the years. AI will help, no doubt, but it won’t replace the human interaction.”

Mr O’Leary adds: “We want underwriters to be making the decisions because that’s the experience that we have employed. Their technical ability is what differentiates us from others.”

The company strongly believes in taking a hands-on approach to nurturing its next generation of leaders. The training includes pairing them with experienced team members who can share knowledge accumulated from years of assessing business risks.

Mr Long, who joined in 2005 and became CEO in 2015, says “the knowledge base is something that we really value. A number of the team who have come through the business and developed their careers here still continue to work here. Our retention of good people is fantastic.”

It’s an approach that should stand Epsilon in good stead for decades to come.