(The Insurer) – The MGA model is experiencing rapid growth in continental Europe, signalling a pivotal shift in the region’s specialty insurance landscape as entrepreneurial underwriters, capacity providers and private equity investors see increasing value across the continent.

This was one of the primary takeaways from The Insurer’s European MGA Summit 2025, which saw almost 400 executives and industry leaders from European MGAs, capacity providers, PE investors and service providers gather on the outskirts of Amsterdam on June 11 to June 12.

Traditionally, the European MGA market has lagged its more mature counterparts in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific, where MGAs have long played a central role in specialty insurance distribution.

However, the sentiment at the event was that this is beginning to change. Analysts at Howden Re estimated that 650+ MGAs across Europe underwrote around $20 billion in gross written premium in 2024 alone, highlighting the substantial but largely untapped potential for future growth.

To put these figures in context, the broker believes annual global MGA GWP to be around $150 billion, of which circa $115 billion is written by firms in the U.S.

ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED

An opening keynote from Howden Re’s executive chairman Elliot Richardson laid bare the growth opportunity. He forecast that the European MGA market will reach $50 billion in GWP over the next five years, marking a period of accelerated expansion and maturation.

This growth is being driven by a combination of market forces, technological innovation and shifting priorities among both insurers and investors.

The executive forecast growth would be driven by more hybrid and dedicated fronting models emerging across the continent (more on this later), while the trend for top underwriting talent to migrate to entrepreneurial MGAs will continue at pace.

“A $20 billion market is no longer an experiment; it is a proven opportunity. We now have a chance to scale in a space that could exceed $50 billion in three to four years’ time,” he said.

DISTRIBUTION AND REGULATORY HURDLES

While MGAs in Europe have historically been viewed primarily as niche distribution vehicles, a common theme from the conference was that these vehicles are increasingly demonstrating value as deployers of AI.

A panel discussion made up of Dual Europe CEO Olaf Jonda, XS Global Director Toby Esser, Optio Europe MD Marc Van der Veer and IAP Managing Partner Clive Buesnel spoke of how today’s leading European MGAs combine deep sector expertise with digital-first operating models that deliver speed, precision, and flexibility.

This operational agility has become a key differentiator, particularly in a market environment where traditional carriers face pressure to reduce costs, innovate faster, and respond to evolving customer needs.

The panel agreed that top-tier underwriting talent is migrating to these models, drawn by high-autonomy ventures and entrepreneurial upside.

Those MGAs that can demonstrate a focus on local execution, regional regulatory knowledge, localised distribution networks and proven underwriting represent a compelling M&A takeover opportunity for larger, pan-European MGAs or the increasingly EU-focused roll-up and consolidator platforms.

There was also agreement that investors and capacity providers are taking note. Across the continent, MGAs are attracting growing interest from private equity firms, venture capital, and established insurers seeking innovative partners.

Despite this interest, there was consensus from the panel that valuation multiples can represent a challenge.

There was a shared feeling that MGA valuation multiples (typically in and around 9–18x Ebitda in the MGA space) have remained high but that there is a common misconception that, particularly from MGA founders and leaders, all firms secure top-end valuations.

LLOYD’S DIVERSIFICATION

European MGAs also present a compelling diversification opportunity for Lloyd’s syndicates.

Christopher Beazley, CEO of Scor UK and Scor Syndicate and Simon Jackson, managing director at Amwins International Underwriting, both agreed that Lloyd’s syndicates are increasingly looking to allocate capacity to Europe via MGAs to insure emerging risks.

Lloyd’s syndicates are looking to MGAs for diversification, not only through product or line of business but also through distribution and technology. Jane Bioletti, head of delegated authority oversight at Lloyd’s, also flagged algorithmic underwriting facilities as an increasingly prominent feature of the market.

In addition, fronting carriers are now turning their attention to Europe. There was a shared agreement across the conference that fronting carriers have an opportunity to expand outside of the U.S. and into Europe as reinsurer appetite outpaces insurance paper supply, creating a need for hybrid capital structures.

Bridgehaven founding chairman and former MS Transverse CEO Erik Matson said he was “very bullish” on Europe as a growth driver but pointed to a number of structural challenges unique to the continent.

The fragmented nature of the European market and the varying approach taken by domestic regulators remains a challenge to growth, particularly around capital requirements and risk retention, he said.

Stuart McMurdo, CEO for UK & Europe at Accredited, also noted that that European reinsurers have historically shown concerns over fronting carriers, with questions over how they are assuming risk and managing the MGAs they support.