E&S tailwind v reinsurance headwindThe US MGA and programs sector is gearing up for the TMPAA Annual Summit in Scottsdale next month.
Another black eye for the MGA, programs and fronting spaceIf Trisura’s reinsurance recoverables dispute with Orion180 and the James Allen affair caused ripples in the US MGA, programs and fronting space, then the Vesttoo scandal that has dominated headlines for the last four weeks looks nothing less than a tsunami.
Searching for the win-win...In an MGA sector where capacity is king, the appeal of entering into long-term, diversified strategic partnerships with carriers appears obvious, but such agreements can prove elusive.
How far will AM Best’s patience stretch with R&Q?AM Best understands the damage it can cause when it downgrades a company’s financial strength rating below A-, which is why it is cautious and methodical before taking this step.
Premium valuations in a world of MGA scarcity…In an MGA sector populated by entrepreneurial businesses, the exit horizon – no matter how far down the line – is always a point of focus for executives and their financial sponsors.
Flight to qualityAmong the many takeaways from the Program Manager 2023 Conference & Awards event in New York City last week there were arguably two that resonated and could be applied across all the topics for discussion on the day.
The reinsurance opportunity…One consistent theme of the last few months across the P&C industry has been the impact of a significantly harder reinsurance market and what that means for availability and cost of capacity.
Another cautionary tale…News early this month of Trisura’s painful fourth quarter courtesy of a collateral disagreement related to a reinsurance captive of an MGA program it fronted for came as wholesale brokers were still scrambling to replace capacity related to the James Allen affair.
Stand out or be left standing...The largely soft reinsurance market of the last decade or more was arguably a big enabler for the MGA and programs sector, providing a stable source of capacity as the foundation for growth.
A cautionary tale...Much has been written over the last few years about the maturation, sophistication and professionalisation of the MGA, MGU and program administrator space.
2023: MGA outlook positive but not without its challengesEarlier this month AM Best assigned a positive outlook to the MGA sector – or the delegated underwriting authority enterprise sector as the firm characterizes it.
Time for a reality check…This publication was launched a couple of years ago because we, as publishers, saw an opportunity to bring a valuable news service to a booming sector.
The capacity challenge…The “capacity is king” trope is widely used in the MGA and programs space, and for good reason.
Get with the program…If the challenge of the inflationary impact on property reinsurance renewals was a dominant theme of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous last week, then the buoyant state of the $100bn+ programs and MGA sector may be seen by some as a welcome diversion for reinsurers retrenching from cat that are seeking other growth opportunities.
The next frontier is here…For almost as long as the ILS market has been around the question has been when and whether an asset class hitherto dominated by cat risk could be broadened to encompass longer-tail exposures and provide a more diversified uncorrelated portfolio to investors.
Sunny outlook despite gathering storm cloudsWith mounting recessionary fears amid surging inflation and rising interest rates; geopolitical uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and government instability elsewhere; and a growing frequency of extreme weather events, storm clouds are gathering over the global outlook.
Runway for growthEarly this year when we were weighing up hosting events for Program Manager amid continued uncertainty around Covid-19 we were told (to misquote Field of Dreams): build it and they will come.
The great migrationPlenty has been written in recent years about the threat to the wider P&C insurance industry posed by a finite talent pool and a succession void as the ageing demographics of its senior ranks outpace the flow of human capital in the tiers below.
Capacity crunchIt was at the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA)’s Annual Marketplace 2021 in San Diego back in November that the extent of carrier retrenchment from supporting cat-focused property MGAs became clear.
New frontiersIn a short month that has already seen the publication of our relaunch issue of Program Manager, we might have been forgiven if our official February issue was a little thin on the ground.