MGAs have long been used as underwriting hubs for specialist risks. Early examples in Germany operated from the ports of Hamburg and Bremen, focused on highly technical marine exposures. Today, driven by globalization, new risk types, and technological change, MGAs have become agile, capital‑light frontier agencies that:
- Push into new product classes such as cyber, transactional liability, environmental and parametric risk.
- Deploy technology‑enabled platforms featuring advanced analytics, digital underwriting, and API‑connected claims ecosystems.
- Provide insurers with local access to underpenetrated markets, particularly in emerging Europe, Asia and Latin America.
This blend of product specialism, operational efficiency and geographic reach makes MGAs uniquely attractive M&A targets.
The appeal of MGAs has fueled explosive growth in the MGA sector. MGAs are now achieving compound annual growth rates of approximately 23% in Europe and 15% across the US and the rest of the world. By 2024, MGA gross written premiums had reached around USD20 billion in Europe, USD115 billion in the US and approximately USD150 billion globally, while the number of active platforms has expanded significantly, with an estimated 440 MGAs in the US, 200 in the UK and around 650 across Continental Europe.
This rapidly expanding “MGA pie” has driven increased deal activity and rising valuations. At the same time, MGA platforms themselves are using M&A to consolidate to achieve scale, diversify underwriting risk and broaden product capabilities.
Nexus Underwriting provides a clear example of MGA‑led consolidation in practice, having completed 18 acquisitions since inception as part of a disciplined buy‑and‑build strategy. Its 2026 acquisition of Sure Insurance Services, following earlier expansion into US cyber through Evolve, shows how MGA platforms are using M&A to assemble diversified, specialist underwriting franchises capable of scaling across products and geographies.
Note: Figures in this chapter are taken from Howden's excellent Agents of Change publication.
Private equity interest in MGAs continues to intensify, driven by a compelling and increasingly well‑understood investment thesis. MGAs offer scalability without the balance‑sheet intensity of traditional carriers, allowing growth to be achieved without tying up significant regulatory capital. Their underwriting‑led margins generate attractive returns on invested capital, supporting double‑digit EBITDA multiples and making them well suited to medium‑term private equity ownership.
MGAs also offer clear and flexible exit routes, whether through strategic sales to carriers seeking specialist underwriting capability, secondary buy‑outs, or integration into larger platform roll‑ups. This combination of capital efficiency, strong growth and exit optionality has made the capital‑light insurance sector a focal point for private equity investment.
Illustrative transactions include Peloton Capital Management’s investment in Starfish Specialty, a US P&C MGA; Cinven’s acquisition of a 50% stake in Policy Expert, a digitally enabled P&C platform; and Innovisk, which assembled a diversified portfolio of seven specialty MGUs before being acquired by Abry Partners and BHMS Investments, and then sold to Ryan Specialty.
The Innovisk story illustrates a trend beyond traditional MGA consolidation or pure private‑capital ownership – the rise of the large specialty platforms like Ryan Specialty, which are increasingly gearing up in a market where specialist underwriting businesses (such as cyber, transactional liability, and environmental risk) are becoming prized assets.
Ryan has been assembling a substantial MGA portfolio, including Castel Underwriting Agencies, a UK specialty cells platform; US Assure, a leading builders’ risk underwriting business; Geo Underwriting, a European MGA; and Ethos Specialty, Ascot’s P&C MGA. This shows how well‑capitalized specialty platforms – such as Ryan and Amwins – are using M&A to build diversified, multi‑line underwriting franchises with meaningful scale and geographic reach.
Further up the value chain, large multinational insurance carriers are also increasingly turning to MGA acquisitions as a core strategic tool. MGAs offer carriers speed to market – often far quicker than building internal underwriting units from scratch – direct access to specialist talent and proven underwriting teams, and the ability to adopt a “try before you buy” approach by testing partnerships ahead of full acquisition.
Recent transactions underscore this strategy in practice. Zurich’s investment in ICEN Risk, a transactional liability MGA, reflects a targeted approach to specialist lines. Chubb’s USD300 million acquisition of Healthy Paws highlights the appeal of high‑growth, MGA‑style platforms in adjacent specialty markets such as pet insurance. Meanwhile, Zurich’s acquisition of Canadian MGA BOXX scaled an existing cyber partnership and accelerated Zurich’s digital‑first strategy through Zurich Global Ventures. Together, these deals illustrate how MGA acquisitions are now firmly embedded within the M&A strategies of large insurance carriers.
The MGA market is no longer a niche corner of the insurance industry – it has become one of the sector's most dynamic engines of growth, innovation and capital formation. Private equity sees MGAs as scalable, high‑margin assets; global carriers see them as strategic accelerants for underwriting capability, product diversification and market expansion.
As premium volumes rise, valuations strengthen and platforms consolidate, MGA M&A is moving rapidly toward boiling point – with no sign of cooling in the years ahead.
This guide reflects our understanding of the law and market practice in each jurisdiction as at July 2026. Regulation in this area continues to evolve and individual jurisdictions may have introduced changes since publication. For advice on a specific jurisdiction, please contact that jurisdiction's key contact, or your usual DLA Piper adviser.