New MGAs should choose between distribution advantage and underwriting insight

An innovative idea, strong technological foundations and good speed to market are not enough to guarantee the smooth launch of a new MGA – to be successful, new players must make a decision on a key facet of their business and commit to it.

This is according to a panel of experts speaking at a seminar entitled Why Some MGAs Become Distribution Powerhouses and Some Exit on 19 March 2026 at the Insurtech Insights conference in London.

Rob Bauer, president and chief growth officer at Bolttech, explained the two pillars of MGA success. He said: “There’s really two things I’ve seen for an MGA to be successful. One, distribution advantage. Two, underwriting insight.

“You can have different degrees of those. For example, 80% distribution advantage if you hone the customer and you have something to offer and 20% underwriting insight – or you can flip the model and have 20% distribution advantage and 80% underwriting insight. That’s what I’ve seen be successful.”

No right answer

Vittorio Scala, chief executive at AEC Underwriting, also felt that MGA success comes down to a more fundamental level than the purely technological.

“It’s important for an MGA, at the beginning, at a strategic level, to say do I want to be a huge distributor for a capacity provider and bring the value add through distribution, or do I want to be an underwriting MGA, concentrating on underwriting and therefore being the right capabilities and specialisations,” he said.

“In my view, the real successful MGAs are the ones that begin by deciding what they want to do and what they can bring to the table.

“If you decide ‘well, I’ll bring a little bit of both’, that’s not good enough. There is no right answer, but you need to decide at the beginning, when you set up an MGA, what you want to do.”