The vast majority of the respondents to Guy Carpenter's survey of managing general agents intend to use company funds or company stock (if applicable) to make acquisitions (81 percent this year versus 47 percent in 2012). Despite access to bank financing, private equity and venture capital options, respondents showed no interest in employing those financial vehicles. It appears ... Continue Reading »
programs
PA/MGA Growth Through Acquisitions, Part I
The survey indicates a dramatic shift in the percent of program carriers interested in making acquisitions, following a couple of years of steady decline. This year, 69 percent of respondents indicated an interest in growing through acquisitions (up from 44 percent in 2012). When queried on the types of acquisitions they are seeking, most respondents' interests appear to be ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Reinsurance Purchasing
Reinsurance continues to play an important role for program issuing carriers. Sixty-nine percent of respondents to the survey this year indicated the use of both direct reinsurers and intermediaries, down slightly from 76 percent in 2012. Those managing their purchase through intermediaries exclusively increased to 25 percent of respondents from 18 percent in the prior year. ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Risk Sharing
Program managers may also manage the performance of their programs through the pursuit of risk sharing on behalf of their PA/MGA partners. As we saw in past surveys, not all respondents require risk sharing. This year, a significant number of respondents said they utilize a sliding scale commission structure (92 percent versus 76 percent for the prior survey year). The percent ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Performance Management
A carrier's need for growth and profitability has to be closely monitored and controlled in the PA/MGA space. Every respondent in this year's survey indicated that they had audit procedures in place to assure adherence to established risk selection and underwriting guidelines, financial billing, collection, remittance and banking guidelines, claim reporting, adjusting and ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Operating Platform
Carriers continue to maintain flexibility regarding their requirements for the services they expect their PA/MGA partners to perform and what they feel they need to control. As in the 2012 survey, respondent carriers expect their PAs/MGAs to underwrite (100 percent of respondents), rate, quote, bind business (100 percent) and issue and service policies (94 percent). The survey ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Personal Lines Appetite
On the personal lines appetite side of Guy Carpenter's MGA survey, auto grew by 13 percentage points and umbrella grew by 6 percentage points over the previous survey in terms of pursuing growth. Both homeowners and medical were unchanged. ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Commercial Lines Appetite
A line by line comparison of respondents' appetites in the prior year's survey with those of this year reveals some changes in emphasis. Workers compensation and medical malpractice experienced large growth in percent of respondents who were currently writing, looking for new growth or aggressively seeking growth. The property line grew by 6 percentage points to become only the ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Program Size
The average size of programs targeted by carriers has changed to reflect economic, rate adequacy and expense factors. Carriers remain more flexible with their program minimum premium requirements, their willingness to consider startup programs, their willingness to front and the territorial scope in which they are willing to write business. ... Continue Reading »
PA/MGA Program Business Market Challenges
The challenge of balancing profitability with market share continues for carriers writing PA/MGA program business. This market dynamic was reflected in the level of responses for maintaining rate level (56 percent) and new business production (50 percent) as the largest challenges. ... Continue Reading »
