Michael Kehoe : Yes, Casey, this is Mike Kehoe. I would say it’s not really a forecast. It’s really more just a general observation that in a large mature industry like property casualty insurance, 40% growth is unusual, okay? So eventually, there will be a mean reversion where we grow at a more modest clip. We’re big believers in our business model. We operate a very disciplined underwriting operation. We’re targeting the smaller count E&S market, which historically has grown faster than the broader P&C industry. We provide the best customer service in the industry in terms of quote ratios and response times to our brokers. We’ve got the most efficient business model than anybody we compete with. Our expense ratio is quite a bit lower than the competition.
So for all these reasons, we’re very bullish on growth. It’s just — I think we’re up 46% year-to-date. It’s like that will give way to something more modest. But I do think it’s a good point. Interest rates are a big driver of our business in terms of investment returns, and eventually, that will have maybe more impact in the market. Keep in mind, though, it takes a while for those higher rates to kind of leg into portfolios. We’ve seen our interest rate go up from like 2.5% to — what was the return?
Bryan Petrucelli : 3.9%.
Michael Kehoe : 3.9% this quarter, but it does take a couple of years for that to have its full impact.
Casey Alexander : Okay. Great. My second question is actually related to the portfolio because you’ve actually, during the course of this year, while rates have gone up, you’ve pulled the duration in. Is there a point in time where you extend that duration in order to capture the rise in interest rates for a longer period of time, considering the fact that it’s usually likely at some point in time that the yield curve normalizes?
Michael Kehoe : Yes. Right now, the yield curve is still inverted slightly, not as much as it was a couple of months ago. Where it goes from here, obviously, is uncertain with fiscal policy a little bit out of control at the government level, all sorts of geopolitical uncertainty? Where oil prices go? Is there a recession in the immediate future? So we’re comfortable focusing on that 2-year duration with new money at the moment, but absolutely at some point, we’ll probably extend that back. We were about 4.5-year duration prior to making the shift about 1.5 years or 2 years ago.
Casey Alexander : Okay. And lastly, when you say it changes in flow in Southeast property accounts, can you give a little more granularity on what that actually means?
Brian Haney : Yes. So this is Brian Haney. If your major exposure is to, let’s say, Southeast hurricane, it’s problematic for you to try to buy your cover with an effective date during wind season because if a storm forms and there’s a risk that will hit you, the insurers won’t — either won’t quote it or will quote it excluding that event, and so you would find yourself exposed to a possible uncovered loss. So what the big account or the accounts tend to do in those areas is buy in the second quarter, which is why we saw a lot of growth. Why that’s a big property quarter for us and not in the third quarter.
Casey Alexander : Then you would then, therefore, expect that to pick up in the fourth quarter post the cat season?
Brian Haney : I would say that the third quarter is inarguably the lowest. I don’t know off the top of my head which the other 3 quarters is the biggest. I get the sense that the first and second quarters are the biggest.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Andersen with Jefferies.
Andrew Andersen : Recognizing that industry stamping office data isn’t perfect, but I was surprised to hear submission growth rate increase quarter-over-quarter. Has the company’s product offering suite increased, and these are newer lines? Or is the appetite and willingness to compete on price changing in the same lines?
