According to an analysis by Insuramore, the value of revenues earned worldwide by MGA, MGU and cover-holder groups reached around $15.23bn in 2021, signifying annual growth of approximately 21.7% before adjusting for inflation. This is substantially ahead of the growth rate of world’s insurance broking sector which is believed to have risen in value by almost 12.5% in 2021.
As a group, Brown & Brown was ranked first globally in this space in 2021 and has been building on that position this year through the subsequent acquisitions of UK-based intermediary Global Risk Partners and Orchid Underwriters. In descending order, it is likely to have been followed from second to fifth by Gallagher, Ryan Specialty Group, Amwins and Truist Insurance.
By ownership, 59 of the top 300 groups in this space in 2021 are classifiable as broker-owned, 26 as insurer-owned and the remaining 215 as independent.
Among insurer-owned groups, Munich Re generated the highest revenue from proprietary MGA business in 2021 while Hagerty was the largest independent group. By location of headquarters, and with 165 in total, the US played host to the most MGA groups, followed by the UK (54), the Netherlands (12), South Africa (11) and Germany (11).
Given the very high industry-wide growth rate, almost all MGA groups experienced an increase in their revenues in 2021 and Insuramore believes that over 20 of the top 300 have more than doubled their income relative to 2020. While this growth has been caused in a few cases by M&A activity, most MGA groups with triple-digit annual growth have achieved this through applying innovative technology to come up with genuinely new and disruptive offers in specific insurance categories.
Worldwide, there are approximately 1,150 enterprises that are active in the MGA sector and for most of them, it is their exclusive focus of activity. On one hand, their numbers are being boosted by new launches that aspire to join the cohort of fast-growing disruptors. On the other, there is some downward pressure on the number of groups because of consolidation among them.
Nevertheless, the MGA sector seems set to remain a hotbed of innovation with global revenues attributable to it likely to pass $20bn by 2023 and premiums intermediated by it worth more than $160bn by that year. M