This interview was originally published in Insurance Day, and is shared here with permission and thanks. Read the original here

The managing general agent (MGA) sector is booming to the extent its participants’ ambition to be multi-territory entities is increasing, according to the chief executive of Pro MGA Global Solutions, Danny Maleary.

In an interview during the annual meeting of reinsurers in Monte Carlo, Maleary said his independent MGA incubator and programme platform therefore has plans to expand far beyond its bases in the UK, the US and Germany.

“Within the next 12 months, we expect also to be in Canada, Spain, Sweden or Norway, Mexico, Singapore and Israel. That means we will have platforms that are live and supporting clients in the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia,” he said.

Maleary formed Vibe MGA Management in 2016, which was acquired by Pro Global three years later and rebranded as Pro MGA Global Solutions. It now has $1bn of gross written premium under management in 29 classes of business, manages 30 clients at 43 MGAs and is on track for 60% growth this year compared with 2022, he said.

“We’re seeing seven to 10 new opportunities a month and we have 41 opportunities currently in the pipeline, which is really robust, and our declinature rate has dropped from 80% to 60% because the quality of MGA business plans is becoming much better.”

To him, quality means “a framework of operational resilience”. The components of this are a three-year business plan and five-year vision that can be “tweaked accordingly”. The vision must be both innovative and acquisition cost-cutting as well as have a distribution strategy that is aligned with customers’ needs and is profitable for stakeholders. Experience is key, he added, but none more so than technological entrepreneurship.

The “European opportunity” for MGAs has been particularly stark, with Pro MGA Global Solutions setting up more than 25 in that region in the past 12 months. There have been two themes, Maleary said. The first is offering monoline optionality.

“For example, you could have a warranty and indemnity proposition and offer tax or contingency as embedded or as standalone products. In other words, break up the package into monolines,” he said.

“We’re seeing seven to 10 new opportunities a month and we have 41 opportunities currently in the pipeline, which is really robust, and our declinature rate has dropped from 80% to 60% because the quality of MGA business plans is becoming much better”

This interview was originally published in Insurance Business magazine, and is shared here with permission and thanks. Read the original here

Amid supermarket shortages and rising inflation, 2023 was informally dubbed the year of ‘grow your own’, with fruit and vegetable grow kit vendors reporting increased consumer interest and spiking sales. Pro MGA Solutions has adopted the moniker too, according to CEO Danny Maleary (pictured), as he offered insights into the challenges facing the managing general agents (MGA) market as it looks to plug the talent gap impacting the wider insurance ecosystem.

As CEO of the MGA incubator platform, he has a direct line into the concerns voiced by the sector but also of the solutions essential to creating a healthy talent pipeline. For Pro MGA Solutions – and also its parent company Pro Global – these solutions include a range of different initiatives, he said, with some aimed at attracting new faces to the market while others focus on retaining and supporting existing talent.

“What you need to have is a blend,” he said. “Of course, you need experienced individuals but you also need a plan of action about how to fill the gap they’ll leave when they eventually retire. For me, when we came out of lockdown and we saw the business growing rapidly, it was a real case of understanding how important it is that we overcome the challenge of finding the right people to allow that growth trajectory to continue.”

Top tips for retaining great MGA talent

On retaining talent, Maleary highlighted that the business is implementing a range of initiatives aimed at bringing people back into the market, some of whom left to take maternity or caring leave, and some who recently retired. The hybrid working environment of the post-lockdown world has created more flexibility, he said, and is encouraging some individuals to come back on a part-time basis and share their experiences, expertise and skills in order to nurture, coach and mentor younger professionals.

“We’re doing a lot of work around shadowing,” he said. “We’ve got some really good, young, ambitious individuals who don’t know too much about insurance who are shadowing some of our more experienced colleagues. And that could be around business development, or regulatory and compliance work, or account management.

“What that’s doing is creating a continuous work stream of people who will be well-placed to take the business forward to the next level at some point in the future. Home growing is for me the important thing and it’s the mission we’ve been on for a good period of time now. And it does take time but what you get back is the immense satisfaction of seeing people grow and fulfil their own vision and aspirations.”

Why some insurance professionals need to loosen the reins on young talent

In the past, one of Maleary’s pet peeves with the insurance industry has been the reluctance of some more seasoned individuals to open opportunities up to new talent and to give them a chance to shine. That’s definitely changing over time, he said, but it’s not changing fast enough, and the sector generally needs to take a healthier attitude towards encouraging the development of young talent.

“For instance, we’ve got an individual who will be leaving us in the coming months, and we’ll actually be doing a bit of an article about it to say how fantastic it is that they’re enhancing their career,” he said. “For me, you’ve got to be grown up about it, it’s not a point of embarrassment that they want to do something different and take on a new challenge. I feel proud that we’ve helped them get from where they were to where they are, and where they’re going to get to. And we’ll always be here for them as a mentor and as a sounding board.”

Diversification – the key to creating a healthier ecosystem

Discussing how MGAs can bolster the talent pipeline, Maleary emphasised the importance of diversification. Talent drives have got to expand beyond London, he said, which is why his team is investing in creating or expanding its talent pools in areas including Gloucester, Liverpool and Glasgow – and is looking to diversify this further beyond the UK and into Europe and the US. In addition to creating a seamless work stream, this will also allow the firm to align itself accordingly with the types of clients it’s seeing.

“If I look at our client base, we’ve got 30-plus clients and we’re managing 43 MGAs, and they are so diverse in terms of language, culture and their approach,” he said. “Some are the traditional underwriters that you’d expect to see in the city, and some are very techy people to whom the insurance aspect is new.

“So, what you need is a really good spread of skills and understanding, not just around the technical aspects but also the cultural differences that exist. Within the talent pool you have available to you, you have to be able to draw down on their capabilities to support a client. You have to align culture and values, align understanding, align language, and align youth with experience – and then just blend it all together.”

What does it take to open up talent pathways?

It takes time and careful consideration to really build up a strong pipeline, he said, and it’s only possible with the right like-minded individuals around you who are willing to go out of their way to find that time. Maleary noted that he himself continues to lean on the subject matter expertise of mentors, some of whom are older and some of whom are younger than him. As a business leader, he strongly believes that you can’t be afraid of continuously learning and continuously developing your skillsets, your capabilities and your outlook.

“The challenge is that the talent of the future isn’t sitting out there on a shelf waiting for you to pick them,” he said. “You’ve got to home-grow them, which is challenging but it’s also the fun part. And it brings in so many fresh ideas about different approaches to embracing new solutions and new technologies and understanding how these can be utilised. It’s proof that an old dog like me can learn new tricks. Because it’s about not being afraid to change and not being afraid to learn.”

When 16-year-old Ollie Dalzell finished his GCSEs, he spent part of his summer break shadowing Pro MGA’s CEO, Danny Maleary, to find out what the world of insurance is really like.

There are textbooks. There are definitions. There are key phrases, too. But, for any 16-year-old with ambitions of making a name for themselves in financial services, there’s only so much you can learn about the real working world when cooped up in the classroom.

For soon-to-be A Level student Ollie Dalzell, a period spent with Danny Maleary and his team on work experience, proved to be an eye opener.

“I spent two years doing a GCSE in business studies, which was great, but this experience taught me just how important communication is,” said Ollie. “If you don’t have good communication with people, you won’t bring in business. That’s something I never learned in my GCSEs.”

“I would absolutely recommend an internship, especially shadowing senior management. It really opened my eyes. The way my time with Pro MGA was structured meant I was able to see how a company is run and how the various pieces of the jigsaw fit together, which was invaluable.”

The future looks bright for Ollie, and the next few years he hopes will provide him with positive choices for his future career.

“I’ve now got two years of A Level, and I can’t wait for it. It’ll be a fresh new start. After A Level, I’m really interested in working in the financial sector. It’s just whether I decide to go to university or head straight into work. We shall see.”

Danny added: “It has been an absolute pleasure to have Ollie with us during the summer. Investing in and nurturing young talent is so important and we’re doing a lot of work at Pro to encourage and support future generations – including through our shadowing programme with senior leaders. We wish Ollie all the very best with his A Level studies and future career wherever that takes him and we will always be here for him as a mentor and sounding board.”

We’re always on the lookout for talent. If you’re interested in working for Pro MGA, why not get in touch.

When commuting to the office a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time reading through Clyde & Co’s MGA opinion report 2023, and it struck a chord with me.

We have ambitious growth plans at Pro MGA, operationally and for our people, and I feel a wealth of optimism about our medium and long-term future. And that is why this report struck a chord. We’re not the only MGA incubator/Manager who feels this way, and that is incredibly positive for our industry. That is, despite economic turbulence.

Here are a few of my takeaways from the report.

MGAs are a crucible of innovation for carriers

Historically in hard market conditions, carriers have tended to move away from the MGA model, but due to the maturity of MGAs nowadays, along with the opportunities that the MGA route now offer carriers to access certain lines of business, carriers have real trust in the MGA partnership.

Indeed, 45% of carriers said they expected their MGA partnerships to increase in 2023, while 35% said they would hold steady.

This is vital for MGAs and our ability to be nimble and adapt to trends is a key factor in this. It’s our ability to use data and technology to double down on good risk selection too that means that capital providers are still keen to follow the MGA route even though the insurance market remains hard for many lines.

It’s noted in the report that, for an MGA to be attractive to a carrier, they must demonstrate strategic underwriting, a clear business case, differentiation and relevance, and excellent data capabilities. Something for all MGAs and MGA start-ups to consider, for sure.

Capacity allocation unlikely to change in 2023

It was interesting to see that 44% of MGAs said there was no change in capacity allocation from carriers, and just 28% said it would increase by 10% or more. On the other hand, 40% of carriers reported a neutral change in capacity allocation for this year, with 25% saying capacity allocation would increase by 10% or more.

I suspect this is due to the belief that MGAs are well suited to write lines of business that will remain both disciplined and profitable in the coming months. But it’s important to note that ​​the effect of changing economic conditions on claims has yet to be fully seen, according to the report, and that there could be a worsening claims picture coming soon.

This changing face of our economy could result in a greater focus on wordings and rate adequacy, as well as a reluctance on the part of carriers to supply capacity for certain lines.

More food for thought for ambitious teams looking to scale their MGAs.

This interview was published by Insurance Edge and is shared with the kind permission of the publication

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It’s been a while since Insurance Edge (IE) has spoken to Danny Maleary, CEO of Pro MGA Global Solutions, , so BIBA 2023 was the perfect opportunity to catch up with what’s new in the world of MGA services for brokers who want to scale up and extend their reach.

IE; So let’s talk MGA support Danny, I guess you need a slightly different approach for brokers, depending on where they are on their growth journey? What’s the feeling like post-pandemic, is investment making a strong comeback?

DM; Yeah it is very positive out there now after the pandemic. We found the pandemic was an initial shock in some ways, with everyone in the broker community getting used to Teams and Zooms etc. but it was also a very productive time too. For us at Pro MGA Global Solutions we have picked up about 15+ new clients over the last 2 years or so, it’s been a very fruitful time.

The appetite for creating a new MGA is very much there, we are also finding that we have clients who want to establish become multiple MGAs. That is becoming a thing, definitely. It seems to be primarily driven by desire to enter new territories. One of the core features we offer is multi-territorial MGA properties. We can help clients navigate new territories and stay compliant as they grow.

IE; Any particular geographical areas that are hotspots for this right now? –

DM; It’s all over really, but we are seeing plenty of interest from clients who are existing MGAs and want to launch in the USA. Plus, that is also a trend the other way, so US companies wishing to become MGAs across Europe too. For us, we see significant opportunities for multi-territorial propositions.

We are seeing companies wanting multi-aligned products, all tied to their existing customer base. They might have a core proposition and want peripheral products. Lots of thought going into growth strategies right now. It’s exciting and challenging. For us 15 new MGAs last year, 66% overall business growth on the previous year.

We are also exploring a pipeline of 15 further MGAs for this year too. We are highly selective and are declining about 62% of what we see. It demonstrates to me that the quality of ideas around growth are much better now. Much of that is home based working freeing up time.

IE; One company told IE last year that hybrid working had boosted productivity by about 25%. It really makes a difference when planning a new project doesn’t it?

DM; Sometimes an office environment can offer a few distractions in terms of time usage. But hybrid working definitely helps us achieve more, plus enjoy more long weekends too. Pro MGA Global Solutions is definitely managing our time better and getting an improved work-life balance too.