Gabriel Holschneider: the Latin American MGU building a platform for the “hard places”

Mark Geoghegan introduced this episode as a slightly unusual one, and it is.

His guest, Gabriel “Gabe” Holschneider, is a former lawyer who built a captive business, then set up a reinsurer, and eventually founded XS Global, now one of the biggest MGA/MGU platforms in Latin America and increasingly active outside the region.

Holschneider says the group closed the year at around $700m of premium, with a plan that takes it to $1bn or above in 2026.

From captives to a reinsurer

Holschneider’s route into insurance was accidental. He was a lawyer in Mexico City, then became fascinated by captives and the idea that sophisticated clients often understand their own risks better than the market gives them credit for.

That became Rainmaker, his captive consultancy.

He then decided he needed a reinsurance capability to back that work, and set up Eureka Re with the minimum capital required for a licence, which he says was $250,000.

Seventeen years later, he says the company has reinvested every dollar, has around $80m in capital, operates in 17 countries, and holds an A- rating.

The “hard places” strategy

XS Global was founded in 2016, positioned around a clear idea.

Instead of competing in mature markets where MGUs are common and capacity is easy to access, Holschneider targets what he calls “the hard places”. Markets where licensing is clunky, distribution is fragmented, and doing things properly requires local presence and effort.

His view is that building locally matters. “As locally as possible,” as he puts it.

Profit first, premium second

Holschneider plays down the importance of top-line premium.

“We don’t really care about the gross,” he says. “It’s never been about the gross written premium.”

The reason is alignment. Underwriters are partners and investors. He says all of the group’s money is in the business, so they feel poor underwriting decisions immediately.

He also expects “pruning” in the MGU space, with weaker propositions built for commissions rather than underwriting performance struggling as conditions normalise.

A broad specialty platform

XS Global now operates in 11 countries with around 188 people, with hubs that include London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Miami and Mexico City.

The group writes 16 lines of business, mostly specialty. Holschneider points to strength in contractors plant and equipment, and says the group built a meaningful FAC property book during the hard market, but is willing to write less property if terms do not hold.

“We’re not going to chase ourselves down into a rabbit hole,” he says.

Lloyd’s, culture, and AI in the boring bits

Holschneider is enthusiastic about Lloyd’s, describing the value of its licensing framework and suggesting Lloyd’s will play a bigger role for the group over time.

He also spends time on culture. He speaks to every new joiner, sets out expected behaviours clearly, and says toxic people are a hard no.

On AI, he says the near-term win is removing grunt work. Pre-underwriting support, reading submissions, and speeding up analysis so underwriters can spend more time underwriting.

“We have to use it as a tool or it will use us,” he says.