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Insurance

Managing general agents and underwriters

Active

MGAs and MGUs underwrite, price and bind insurance policies on behalf of carriers under delegated authority, and often handle claims too. The carrier or reinsurer keeps the underwriting risk, and the MGA earns commissions and fees.

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Active

There are hundreds of small MGAs and clear sponsor and strategic buying, but prices for scaled MGAs are high and every deal depends on keeping carrier capacity.

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Fragmentation
High
Hundreds of MGAs file with the NAIC and only a handful write more than a billion dollars of premium.
Universe from a public registry
Low
No free national list of MGAs exists, and the best counts come from carrier statutory filings that are resold by data vendors.
Recurring revenue
Medium
Commissions renew with policies, but carriers can cut or move capacity on short notice and profit commissions swing with loss ratios.
Change-of-control friction
High
Carrier contracts cannot be assigned by the MGA and are terminable on short notice, so each capacity provider must agree to stay after a sale.
AI operating leverage
High
Labor is the biggest cost and much of the work applies written carrier guidelines to submissions, bordereaux and claims.

Our view. For change-of-control friction, High means harder to close.

Universe

Registry

NAIC State Based Systems (SBS) producer license lookup. Lets you look up licensed producers and agencies one at a time in participating states. It does not flag MGAs in most states, because the NAIC model only requires an MGA to hold a producer license. States with a separate MGA license, such as Texas, are the exception. The best MGA count comes from carrier statutory filings (Note 19), which AM Best and S&P resell and which are not free.

Diligence risks

Fragmentation

Revenue model

No aggregate evidence is shown for this section.

Change of control

  • Under the NAIC MGA model act, the carrier contract may not be assigned by the MGA. The carrier may terminate the contract for cause with written notice.

    Source: NAIC, Oct 2002

  • The NAIC model requires an MGA to hold a producer license in each state where it writes. Some states, such as Texas, require a separate MGA license.

    Source: NAIC, Oct 2002; Texas Legislature (via Texas.Public.Law)

  • If the MGA platform also owns an insurance company, a buyer needs prior approval from the state insurance regulator. Most states presume control at 10% or more of the voting stock.

    Source: SEC EDGAR, Mar 18, 2026

Who is consolidating

  • MarshBerry counted 19 announced US specialty distributor deals in the first quarter of 2025, and private equity-backed buyers did 12 of them.

    Source: MarshBerry, May 7, 2025

Where AI changes the cost base

  • Much of the work is applying carrier underwriting guidelines to submissions. Clearing, rating, quoting and binding small commercial risks follows written rules and is a good fit for automation.

    Our view

  • Back-office work is document heavy. Bordereaux reporting to carriers, premium accounting, carrier audits and first-notice claims intake all repeat across every carrier relationship.

    Our view

  • Adoption is still early. The TMPAA study found that about 28% of program administrators have a dedicated AI budget.

    Source: Insurance Journal (reporting TMPAA State of Program Business Study 2025), Dec 1, 2025

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