Preferred Specialty
Preferred Specialty is an independent excess and surplus lines insurance wholesaler providing binding authority and specialty insurance products (nine lines including property, flood, marine, environmental, and professional liability) to retail insurance agents in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersColumbia, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Preferred Specialty does
Preferred Specialty, LLC is an excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance wholesaler headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, founded in 2003 by Robert H. Sanders, Jr. The company provides specialty insurance products and binding authority services to independent retail insurance agents serving hard-to-place and complex risks. Preferred Specialty holds binding authority with multiple A.M. Best A- or better-rated carriers, including Lloyd's of London, Markel, Kinsale, Tokio Marine, CFC, and others, enabling direct quote, bind, and policy issuance for non-standard risks.
The company offers nine specialty product lines: Commercial Property & Casualty, Vacant Building & Dwelling, Monoline Earthquake, Primary & Excess Flood (up to $15M combined limits), Ocean & Inland Marine, Excess Liability & Umbrella (up to $10M over A-V or better underlying carriers), Professional Liability, Environmental, and Garage Liability. Its technology stack consists of an online member portal with rating engines that allows contracted retail agents to quote and submit business, supplemented by a public-facing website and social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Preferred Specialty earns wholesale commission income from insurance carriers on bound specialty policies, operating a relationship-driven channel-partner go-to-market targeting independent retail agents in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The firm is privately held, founder-led, with 11-50 employees, no disclosed institutional investors or funding rounds, and no parent company. Distribution is exclusively indirect through retail agents, and the company maintains industry association partnerships with WSIA (board seat held by the founder) and IIABSC.
Preferred Specialty firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Preferred Specialty
- Legal name
- Preferred Specialty, LLC
- Website
- https://preferredspecialty.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Preferred Specialty is an independent excess and surplus lines insurance wholesaler providing binding authority and specialty insurance products (nine lines including property, flood, marine, environmental, and professional liability) to retail insurance agents in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Preferred Specialty industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Insurance Wholesaling
- NAICS
- Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wholesale Insurance Brokerage (Excess & Surplus Lines) (FSAEADAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Specialty Insurance Brokerage (Marine, Aviation, Cyber, Professional Lines) (FSAEADAJ), Specialty & Excess/Surplus Lines (E&S) (FSAJAMAH), Professional Liability (E&O) (FSAJAGAC), Surplus Lines Property (CAT/High-Hazard) (FSAJAGAB)
Keywords
Where Preferred Specialty is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Columbia
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Preferred Specialty business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Wholesale Insurance Commissions: Preferred Specialty operates as an E&S wholesaler earning commissions from insurance carriers for placing specialty insurance business. They represent multiple international and domestic insurance markets and earn commission income on bound policies.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Preferred Specialty product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Preferred Specialty operates as an Excess and Surplus Lines (E&S) insurance wholesaler, placing specialty insurance coverage with retail insurance agents across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The firm holds binding authority with multiple international and domestic carriers and offers nine specialty lines including Commercial Property & Casualty, Vacant Building & Dwelling, Monoline Earthquake, Primary & Excess Flood, Ocean & Inland Marine, Excess Liability & Umbrella, Professional Liability, Environmental, and Garage Liability.
Product overview
Preferred Specialty is an excess and surplus lines insurance wholesaler offering a portfolio of specialty insurance products through binding authority contracts with multiple specialty insurance companies. The company provides nine core product lines: Commercial Property & Casualty, Vacant Building & Dwelling (including Renovations and Builder's Risks), Monoline Earthquake, Primary & Excess Flood, Ocean & Inland Marine, Excess Liability & Umbrella, Professional Liability, Environmental, and Garage Liability. These products are designed for hard-to-place and complex risks served to retail insurance agents in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company offers an online Member Portal with rate engines for agents to access products and rating tools.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Commercial Property & Casualty
Companies that use Preferred Specialty
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Preferred Specialty technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Preferred Specialty partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Atlantic CasualtyminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for claims processing. Agents can report claims directly to Atlantic Casualty for faster processing.
- CFC UnderwritingminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for specialty lines, particularly environmental and professional liability risks.
- RSUI (Covington)minorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for excess and umbrella coverage solutions.
- Markel (Evanston)minorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for various specialty lines with claims reporting to [email protected].
- Great AmericanminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for property, inland marine, and professional liability coverage.
- Hudson InsuranceminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty with multiple claims reporting options available.
- Intact InsuranceminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for specialty coverage solutions.
- Kinsale InsuranceminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for excess lines coverage.
- Lloyd's of LondoncoreInternational insurance market represented by Preferred Specialty. Lloyd's is a major global insurance market providing capacity for complex specialty risks. All represented carriers are A.M. Best rated A- or better.
- Tokio MarineminorInsurance carrier represented by Preferred Specialty for specialty coverage solutions with online claims portal available.
- Wholesale Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA)coreIndustry association membership. Robert H. Sanders, Jr. serves on the WSIA board of directors, providing leadership and industry influence.
- Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of South Carolina (IIABSC)coreIndustry association partnership. Preferred Specialty is a strong supporter and partner with IIABSC for industry events, community involvement, and advocacy.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Preferred Specialty competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Amwins Group: Amwins is the largest U.S. excess and surplus lines wholesaler, operating across virtually all the same specialty lines Preferred Specialty handles (commercial property, professional liability, environmental, excess liability, marine). It is the dominant scale benchmark that Preferred Specialty competes against at the agent level.
- Brown & Riding Insurance Services: Brown & Riding is a specialty wholesale insurance broker focused on property, casualty, and professional E&O lines. Its product and distribution model closely mirrors Preferred Specialty's nine-line specialty approach to retail agents.
- Bridge Specialty Group: Bridge Specialty Group is an E&S specialty insurance wholesaler combining Brown & Riding's wholesale brokerage with private-label binding authority platforms. It competes directly with Preferred Specialty's binding-authority-driven, multi-product model.
- Risk Placement Services (RPS): RPS is a leading specialty insurance brokerage offering E&S lines and management liability products to retail agents nationwide. Its product breadth and agent-facing technology make it a direct comparator for Preferred Specialty's specialty product suite and member portal approach.
- Burns & Wilcox: Burns & Wilcox is a large national E&S wholesaler with a long-standing model of providing specialty insurance solutions to independent retail agents. It is a direct competitor on broker relationships, product breadth, and carrier access.
- CRC Group: CRC Group is a top-tier E&S wholesale brokerage placing specialty and surplus lines business through retail agents. It competes head-to-head with Preferred Specialty across multiple specialty product lines and targets similar hard-to-place risks.
- Lois Insurance Services (LOIS): LOIS is a regional E&S wholesale brokerage operating primarily in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. Geographic and product overlap with Preferred Specialty makes it a direct regional competitor for retail agent placements.
- Jencap Specialty Insurance Services: Jencap is a specialty insurance wholesaler known for commercial binding authority and E&S brokerage across property, casualty, professional, and excess lines. It overlaps with Preferred Specialty's binding-authority approach and product mix.
- Worldwide Insurance Associates (WIA): WIA is a wholesale insurance brokerage that places E&S and specialty commercial lines through a network of retail producers. Its mid-size wholesale distribution model with multi-line specialty placement makes it comparable to Preferred Specialty's structural positioning.
Broad incumbents
- Hiscox USA: Hiscox is a specialty insurer and digital MGA with strong U.S. presence in professional liability, cyber, and small commercial E&S-adjacent lines. While operating as a carrier/MGA rather than a pure wholesaler, it competes for the same small-commercial and professional E&O business Preferred Specialty places with retail agents.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Preferred Specialty social profiles
Digital presencePreferred Specialty financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Preferred Specialty leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Preferred Specialty funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Preferred Specialty M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Preferred Specialty
What does Preferred Specialty do?
Preferred Specialty operates as an Excess and Surplus Lines (E&S) insurance wholesaler, placing specialty insurance coverage with retail insurance agents across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The firm holds binding authority with multiple international and domestic carriers and offers nine specialty lines including Commercial Property & Casualty, Vacant Building & Dwelling, Monoline Earthquake, Primary & Excess Flood, Ocean & Inland Marine, Excess Liability & Umbrella, Professional Liability, Environmental, and Garage Liability.
Is Preferred Specialty a public or private company?
Preferred Specialty is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Preferred Specialty founded?
Preferred Specialty was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Preferred Specialty based?
Preferred Specialty is headquartered in Columbia, United States, in the North America region.
How does Preferred Specialty make money?
One revenue line is on record: wholesale Insurance Commissions.
Who are Preferred Specialty's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Amwins Group, Brown & Riding Insurance Services, Bridge Specialty Group, Risk Placement Services (RPS), Burns & Wilcox, CRC Group, Lois Insurance Services (LOIS), Jencap Specialty Insurance Services and Worldwide Insurance Associates (WIA). Hiscox USA is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Preferred Specialty have an API?
No public API is recorded for Preferred Specialty.
What industry is Preferred Specialty in?
Preferred Specialty's product category is Specialty Insurance Wholesaling. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAEADAD, Wholesale Insurance Brokerage (Excess & Surplus Lines), with a secondary code of FSAEADAJ, Specialty Insurance Brokerage (Marine, Aviation, Cyber, Professional Lines). Its NAICS code is 5242 and its SIC code is 6411.