E&S Insurer panel: MGA value chain transparency at its highest ever level

By Chris Munro

(The Insurer) - There is now greater transparency through the MGA value chain than ever before with an expectation it will improve further as the industry implements even better safeguards and controls.

Mike McKenna, head of North America insurance at Axis, noted that “years ago” there was very little transparency when it came to MGAs suffering losses or generating profits.

It took a long time for problems to be noticed or developed, while there was also uncertainty as to whether an MGA was even profitable, McKenna said, as he moderated a panel at the E&S Insurer Conference 2025 in New York City.

But Kevin Doyle, CEO at wholesaler RPS, said nowadays, there “is probably the most amount of transparency we've seen in our history of what an MGA relationship looks like, and every day it will get better.”

“Over time, tomorrow will be better and better and better,” Doyle said.

Even though there is greater transparency in the market, there still remains room for improvement, panelists said.

Sam Baig, president of Amwins’ brokerage division, said brokers should be more diligent and understanding of who they are trading with.

“Asking for letters of authority, understanding the E&O limits people carry, what their business plan is, who we're trading with, because MGAs are all over the place,” he said.

And Baig highlighted how insurers take deep dives into the MGAs they support, with the Amwins executive noting that “the carriers that are most successful are the ones that are fairly invasive.”

“They don't just give the pen up, and then at the end of the year they look at the results.

“It's a severe audit process (and) they're keeping an eye on what's being put on the books.”

Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (RSUM) CEO Miles Wuller provided insight into the efforts his company made to ensure transparency with its carrier partners.

“Part of our original commitment to capital was we have our own reserving actuary team on staff,” said Wuller.

“I consider the days of issuing a bordereaux, sending it across the wall, and kind of seeing what happens, waiting for the carrier to give you feedback – that's 10 or 20 years in the rearview mirror for us,” he noted.

Early on in its existence, Wuller said RSUM made the commitment to never surprise its carrier partners.

“We want to see (any issues) and take action ourselves,” he said.

If a carrier partner hears of a problem, then Wuller said “we've already lost and you're going to lose faith in us”

“It's going to impede the current relationship and the ability to do more, and that's the last thing we want to do.”

Ryan Specialty, Wuller said, “made a big investment in alignment years ago” through the formation of Geneva Re.

That platform, launched in 2019, is a strategic partnership between Ryan Specialty and Nationwide that assumes select reinsurance business from RSUM’s programs.

Providing capacity to its own operations is “the ultimate commitment”, said Wuller.

“We’re committed to profitability, we’re happy to have skin in the game. We want to perfect our alignment, and that investment has actually helped accelerate our speed to market as we bring the next product to bear.”

The market, Wuller said, has changed “and if you’re not being proactive, you’re probably 10 years behind”.