insurance research report
How to Research an MGA
A practical MGA research framework for checking capacity providers, delegated authority, underwriting control, claims authority, product focus, and distribution risk.
Company snapshot
- An MGA is usually not just a broker and not always the risk carrier. The key research question is who carries the insurance risk and who controls underwriting.
- Capacity source, authority limits, claims handling, bordereaux quality, and renewal retention are central to understanding an MGA.
- Fast MGA growth can be attractive, but researchers should check whether capacity, loss performance, and operations scale with it.
Business model and main segments
MGAs originate, underwrite, price, bind, and sometimes handle claims under authority from insurers, reinsurers, Lloyds syndicates, or fronting carriers. Revenue can come from commissions, fees, profit commission, technology services, or ownership economics.
Why researchers use this
- To identify the true risk carrier behind the MGA product.
- To assess whether the MGA has durable underwriting control or mainly distribution volume.
- To review operational risks such as bordereaux reporting, claims authority, data quality, and capacity concentration.
Public signals to check
- Capacity-provider announcements, carrier partnerships, Lloyds coverholder status, or fronting arrangements.
- Product classes, authority limits, claims handling role, and geographic permissions.
- Funding rounds, PE ownership, acquisitions, or platform expansion.
- Loss-performance comments, portfolio exits, capacity changes, or program shutdowns.
- Technology claims that should be validated against underwriting outcomes rather than demos alone.
Research checklist
- Identify the MGA legal entity, regulator, product class, and target customer.
- List capacity providers and whether the MGA has binding authority, claims authority, or only distribution authority.
- Check Lloyds coverholder records, insurer partnership announcements, and public filings where available.
- Review concentration risk: one carrier, one broker channel, one class of business, or one geography.
- Note data-quality risks around bordereaux, claims reporting, renewal retention, and underwriting governance.
Public source links
- FCA Financial Services Register
Check UK authorisation, permissions, trading names, appointed representatives, and regulatory status.
- Companies House company search
Check UK company filings, accounts, officers, ownership filings, insolvency events, and registered addresses.
- Lloyd's Market Directory
Check Lloyds brokers, coverholders, managing agents, syndicates, and classes of business.
- SEC EDGAR full-text search
Check US-listed company filings, risk factors, annual reports, quarterly reports, and transaction disclosures.
How to turn this into a company profile
Create a one-page note with four labels beside every material statement: verified source, inferred from source, market commentary, or unknown. That keeps the profile useful without overstating what public information can prove.