The chief executive of one of the world’s biggest privately owned insurance brokerages has said commercial insurance prices should level off this year, describing “green shoots” for clients that have been squeezed by 25 consecutive quarters of rising premiums.

Speaking to the Financial Times, David Howden, founder and chief executive of insurance and reinsurance broker Howden, predicted the price of business cover would flatten this year as the supply of insurance and reinsurance recovers.

“We’re now beginning to see some green shoots,” said Howden. The challenge, he added, is that there has been “a shortage of new capital coming into the market.” He predicted that more would come from areas such as insurance-linked securities — where investors put their capital against insurance risks — leading to a “l(fā)evelling of pricing”.