Amerisafe and AmTrust Project Growth, Rate Hikes

By David Dankwa, Senior ReporterThe chief financial officers of Amerisafe and AmTrust − two workers' comp carriers with different risk preferences − pitched their business to investors in San Francisco on Tuesday, painting a rosy picture of the current rate environment and growth projections for their companies."We often get asked where we are in the market cycle. Is it soft? Is it hard? Is it firming?" said Amerisafe CFO G. Janelle Frost. "One of the things that defines a hardening or hard market is a sustained period of underwriting loss ... I think 117% (combined ratio) wou...