Ciaran Astin: Howden-owned KGM to ‘double in size’ as part of Dual UK growth push

Ciaran Astin, business leader at Howden-owned MGAs Dual UK, where he is chief personal lines officer, and KGM Underwriting Services, where he is managing director, says that growing scale and deepening broker relationships are central to the KGM’s direction – with the firm aiming to double in size over the coming years.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Astin explains: “Our ambition is to double the business in the medium term following the trajectory we’ve had, which makes us a very significant player in the marketplace.”

KGM wrote approximately £275m of gross written premium (GWP) last year, with plans to grow this to over £500m by 2030. The MGA said it will invest in both people and technology to support this expansion, with headcount expected to rise as demand grows across all segments.

Astin formally assumed responsibility for the group role at Dual UK in April 2025, while continuing to lead KGM, the motor-focused MGA acquired by the wider Howden group in 2020. He describes KGM as “our motor MGA business” and noted that it “has a fascinating history and future”.

He adds: “I come to this wearing maybe two hats, but probably more of my day job is KGM.”

Backing specialisms

At KGM, Astin emphasises the importance of staying focused on specialist classes, such as classic cars and motorcycles, while also participating in conversations around emerging risk areas, including electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous driving.

“Classic cars go to the heart of KGM – probably our most established area,” he explains.

“That’s been a consistent thread throughout but, at the same time, it’s also where we’ve seen real acceleration over the last few years. It’s about addressing specialisms – that’s what we relish.

“We want to be involved and part of the [EV and autonomous driving] conversation rather than walking away. It’s an interesting balance – we’ll have an eye on that while being really strong in quite different segments like classic cars and bikes.”

Astin also acknowledges that, although autonomous driving once promised rapid change, the pace has been slower than expected.”

He adds: “Back in 2017 and 2018, there was a lot of hype about the rate at which autonomous driving would roll out. The journey has been harder, clearly, than was expected at that stage – and it will continue to be hard.”

Broker-first distribution approach

KGM’s recent growth has been aided by its capacity arrangement with Zurich, which began in 2021 during a particularly challenging period for the motor insurance market.

Astin explains: “Certainly one big point of inflection for KGM was the start of our relationship with Zurich. That’s at the heart of what we do.

“In the MGA market, especially in motor, the challenge isn’t really about broker access or market – it’s whether you have the capacity to actually trade. We’ve been able to help brokers out because we have this partnership with Zurich. Lots of players had to withdraw and pull back – but we’ve been present, backing brokers.”

Broker distribution remains essential to KGM’s and Dual UK’s commercial strategy. In the Insurance Times’ Five Star Rating Report for 2024/25, KGM Underwriting was among seven MGAs awarded a five-star rating by UK brokers.

Astin notes that the business remains committed to giving brokers choice, rather than funnelling them through limited digital channels.

“We won’t be forcing our brokers or customers to interact with us via chat bots, if that’s not how they work,” he says.

He adds: “We will use those new tools to find better ways to do more of that [service], rather than saying we’ll standardise and take away options like some others do.”

Outlook and positioning

Astin believes the MGA market continues to offer space for entrepreneurial growth, especially in specialist segments.

He says: “Consolidation continues to be a part of the story, but the specialist world looks quite different and we’re comfortable in our positioning.”

Ultimately, Astin believes that KGM’s nimble structure, underpinned by the backing of Dual UK and Howden, gives it an edge in a changing market.

He finishes: “We’re a long way from the big, slow-moving bureaucratic beasts of some other businesses in the market.”