The Turbo-Charged Rise of European MGAs: Driving Growth in Insurance

2023 saw a record number of 20+ MGAs incubated in Europe through Pro MGA, and for 2024 we are already working on a double digit number of opportunities and we are expecting forecasted premiums of EUR 100m+ across our supported MGAs by year end. It’s clear that Pro MGA’s commitment to innovation and industry expertise is empowering MGAs to drive meaningful change within the insurance industry.

For decades, MGAs have been a stalwart presence in the insurance industry. However, unlike previous cycles where MGAs struggled amidst market instability, they are now not just surviving but thriving as valuable extensions of insurer underwriting capability, connecting innovative and relevant new products with local markets.

We feel 2024 has the hallmarks of a milestone year of expansion for MGAs in Europe. So, what’s turbo-charging this growth drive?

Three Key Trends Driving MGA Popularity in Europe:

Partnership Approach:

• Collaboration Over Competition: Insurers and MGAs are shifting towards a collaborative approach, viewing each other as partners rather than adversaries.

• Iterative Relationship Building: The evolution of insurer-MGA relationships is ongoing, agile, and iterative, characterised by continuous communication and adaptation.

• Mutual Growth Strategies: Partnerships between insurers and MGAs are driven by mutual growth objectives, fostering innovation and market expansion.

Insurer Diversification:

• Exploring New Markets: Insurers partner with MGAs to tap into unexplored market segments and innovative solutions, diversifying their portfolios and revenue streams.

• Risk Mitigation Strategies: Insurers utilise MGAs as a strategic tool to manage risk and explore new business opportunities while maintaining profitability.

• Learning Opportunities: Collaboration with MGAs provides insurers with insights into non-legacy dominated environments, facilitating learning and adaptation to modern market dynamics.

Innovation:

• Agility and Speed: MGAs leverage their agility and speed to innovate rapidly, outpacing traditional insurers in developing and implementing new solutions. They harness advanced data sources and powerful analytics to quickly adapt to market trends and consumer demands.

• Technology and Data Advancements: MGAs are exploring new technologies to enhance underwriting processes, risk modeling, and data analytics, driving innovation within the industry. By tapping into new data sources and deploying cutting-edge analytics, MGAs are revolutionising the way risks are assessed and managed.

• Culture of Experimentation: MGAs foster a culture of experimentation, encouraging novel approaches to addressing market challenges and moving quickly to capitalise on opportunities. This culture allows them to experiment with emerging technologies and data-driven strategies, and affords their insurer backers an opportunity to test and learn new tactics.

These three factors are fueling a shift towards longer-term relationships between insurers and MGAs.

Traditional year-by-year arrangements are being replaced by multi-year contracts, fostering greater alignment and stability. This move towards long-term partnerships incentivises both parties to focus on sustained profitability and mutual growth, rather than short-term gains.

MGAs are also increasingly aligning with panels of insurers to explore capacity options. These alliances allow MGAs to access a diverse range of underwriting capacities, enabling them to offer comprehensive coverage across various lines of business while mitigating risk. By collaborating with multiple insurers, MGAs can maintain their independence while ensuring a secure and well-backed operation. Some MGAs have successfully secured non-classical risk capital by securing alternative risk capital from for example pension funds/trusts, looking to diversify their investment portfolios.

This model is not only enhancing the resilience of MGAs but also fostering competition among insurers, driving greater efficiency and innovation in the market.

Moreover, the increase in profit commissions, coupled with delayed earnings accrual, strengthens the financial performance of MGAs over time. By prioritising long-term relationships, insurers and MGAs are cultivating partnerships of trust that foster entrepreneurialism, and support the sustainable navigation of market fluctuations, laying the groundwork for enduring success.

Backing MGAs – The Investment Environment

Meanwhile, the investment landscape surrounding MGAs reflects both challenges and opportunities. While securing investment remains a hurdle in the current volatile investment environment, the attractiveness of proven MGAs as investment targets persists despite market uncertainties.

2023 saw a cooling-off period in the broader M&A market, but this is expected to turn around in 2024, and the MGA sector in particular remains active. MGAs with a track record of successful growth are fetching attractive multiples, drawing interest from investors and traditional insurers alike. Limited targets and heightened competition underscore the lucrative nature of MGA investments.

This competitive environment highlights the strategic importance of M&A activity within the MGA space and as part of an MGA’s strategic objective, as players vie to capitalise on the industry’s growth potential and secure their position in an evolving market landscape.

MGAs: Crucibles for Talent

The most critical element to the value proposition of an MGA is of course the team behind it. MGAs are often formed by ambitious entrepreneurs who have grown frustrated with slow-moving systems at large insurers, and the space is also fostering and securing talent as start-ups grow. Talent is attracted to fast-growing, agile start-up environments, and there are many more in the market who want to be part of the MGA success stories that we are seeing. In fact, anecdotally we are seeing talent gravitate towards MGAs at a pace outperforming the general insurance space.

In particular, specialised niche underwriters are realising that their expert underwriting knowledge is highly valuable, and by joining an MGA structure that aligns with their area of expertise, they become more than a small cog in a large machine, and can drive a business forward and be rewarded for it.

The barriers to entry to start an MGA are now lower than ever before – the path is well-trodden. Enabling platforms like Pro MGA Global Solutions are keen to support high quality ideas backed by expert underwriting talent, and can take on the heavy lifting when it comes to the sometimes daunting regulatory and operational hurdles that can be overwhelming, particularly when resources are limited with start-ups.

MGAs: Driving Growth to Thrive

The turbo-charged rise of European MGAs is not merely a short-lived trend but an upwards gear shift in the dynamics of the insurance industry. MGAs are poised to grow in influence in the European insurance sector, through collaborative partnerships, a strategic focus on insurer diversification and relentless pursuit of innovation.

The transition towards longer-term relationships between insurers and MGAs signifies an important maturation of the partnership model, emphasising stability, alignment, and sustained profitability over short-term gains.