Conning report – Managing General Agents: Firing on all Cylinders

August 4, 2022 Greg Brown

We are delighted to have been asked to contribute to Conning’s latest report on the US MGA market. The recent market growth has been impressive. In the United States, MGAs now transact approximately $70 billion in premium annually, and Lloyd’s and London market insurers are important sources of MGA capacity.

We see the growth of MGAs as being driven, in part, by a sharp focus on the use of technology and data to get closer to clients and their risks. MGAs, typically smaller and more agile organisations can often respond to technology trends faster than large insurers, which is making them an increasingly attractive distribution channel for insurers and reinsurers. Whilst MGAs have made good progress there is more they can do to leverage technologies now available to open up attractive underwriting and growth opportunities. We see this being driven by three areas of investment: insight-driven underwriting and pricing, digital engagement tools and infrastructure that enables seamless connectivity (e.g. APIs) to players in the value-chain.

William Pitt, director of research and consulting at Conning and the principal author of Conning’s latest report, said: “MGAs run on talent, technology and capital.  Underwriting capital is less plentiful in a hard market and, to attract it, MGAs need to find the right talent – some of it sourced from outside the insurance industry – and buy or build adaptable technology platforms.  With the help of insights from Oxbow Partners, we’ve explored how MGAs can achieve differentiation through their use of technology in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

“Managing General Agents: Firing on all Cylinders,” Conning’s ninth annual study of the US MGA market, is available for purchase here.