Why Europe’s MGA market finally has its own federation

New insurance trade bodies do not appear very often. When they do, it is usually because something has shifted in the market that existing structures no longer quite cover.

That, according to William Pitt, executive director of the newly formed Federation of European MGAs (FASE), is what is now happening across Europe’s delegated underwriting market.

Speaking to Mark Geoghegan on the Voice of Insurance podcast, Pitt explained why the growth of MGAs across continental Europe has reached a point where a pan-European body is no longer optional, but necessary.

A market that grew without a shared identity

Pitt’s own route into insurance began in journalism, covering the Lloyd’s market during the upheaval of the 1990s, before joining Lloyd’s to help support the creation of Equitas which became part of the Lloyd’s reconstruction plan.

That experience, he said, left him with a lasting interest in market structure, and in what happens when it comes under strain.

While the European MGA market has expanded steadily, Pitt believes it remains fragmented and poorly understood, even by people who work within insurance. “Most people, including people who should know what an MGA is in continental Europe, don’t know what an MGA is and what it does and how it adds value.”he said.

The label itself means different things in different countries.

Two markets that do not meet easily

At the centre of FASE’s creation is a disconnect Pitt sees repeatedly.

On one side are MGAs with deep local knowledge, niche underwriting capability and strong broker relationships. On the other is global capacity, often sitting outside those local markets and struggling to identify the right partners. The two sides exist, but they do not connect efficiently.

FASE’s purpose, Pitt said, is not to replace national associations or act as a blunt lobbying vehicle, but to improve transparency and help those markets find each other more easily.

MGAs should be easier to identify. Capacity should be easier to access. At the moment, neither is true enough.

Regulation as a quiet constraint

MGAs may sit under a lighter regulatory regime than balance-sheet carriers, but regulation still came up repeatedly in Pitt’s conversations with European firms.

The frustration is less about oversight itself and more about how uneven it is.

An MGA that operates comfortably in one country can run into a very different set of rules the moment it looks across a border. Working out what carries over, what changes and what needs fresh approval can be slow and expensive.

For now, Pitt said, FASE’s role will be practical rather than political. Helping members navigate those differences country by country comes well before any attempt to influence the rules themselves.

Why “underwriting agency” matters

The name FASE uses was not an afterthought. Pitt deliberately avoids the term “MGA”, preferring underwriting agency, which he sees as clearer, more descriptive and easier to work with across Europe’s languages. It also reflects how the model has changed.

MGAs are no longer just a route to market for carriers. Underwriting authority has moved to the centre of the proposition, and it is that control that continues to attract experienced underwriters.

Today, underwriting, not distribution, is what defines the role.

Working alongside national bodies

FASE is not intended to duplicate the work of national MGA associations such as the UK’s MGAA.

In fact, Pitt pointed out that several of Europe’s largest insurance economies including Germany and France still have no formal MGA representation at all. Roughly two-thirds of European Economic Area GDP sits in countries without a national MGA body.

Where associations do exist, FASE plans to work alongside them. Leaders from the Dutch and Italian MGA associations already sit on its advisory board.

The intention is complementary coverage. Local issues remain local. FASE focuses on the European layer above that.

Europe is not behind, just different

Pitt is wary of the idea that Europe is simply following the US.

The drivers behind MGA growth are broadly the same everywhere, but the way the market operates in Europe differs. Distribution looks different. Broker relationships are different. Regulation is far less uniform.

So the outcome will be different too.

That said, the momentum is clear. MGAs are still pulling in underwriting talent by offering more independence and a clearer link between performance and reward. Investors like the asset-light, fee-based model. Capacity providers see a way into specialist niches without having to build full teams themselves.

Those same forces are at work in Europe. They just play out in their own way.

Technology and the unbundling of underwriting

Technology has been a major enabler of that shift.

Cloud-based platforms have given MGAs access to systems and capabilities that would once have required the infrastructure of a full carrier.

Pitt noted that MGAs have often been quicker to adopt new tools, helped by the absence of legacy systems and accumulated tech debt commenting, “MGAs have been huge beneficiaries of the cloud-based SaaS revolution in insurance. They’ve grasped that and it initially, in a sense, levelled the playing field with the big carriers.”

The effect has been a steady unpicking of the traditional insurance value chain. Underwriters can focus on underwriting, supported by a broader ecosystem of fronting carriers, brokers, service providers and specialist technology firms.

A structural change, not a cycle

One of the strongest signals, Pitt argued, is that MGA growth continued through the recent hard market.

Inevitably there will be consolidation while other MGAs will fail. However the model itself has shown resilience across market cycles.

In the US, hybrid fronting carriers and alternative capital structures have further fuelled momentum. Early signs suggest similar dynamics are taking shape in Europe but that does not mean every MGA will succeed.

The space is competitive, sometimes unforgiving. Weaker propositions will struggle. Pitt sees that change as a sign of the market’s health rather than something to be concerned about.

Creating the forum the market lacks

FASE’s immediate focus is on convening the market.

Its inaugural event, the MGA Rendezvous, will take place in Barcelona in May. The emphasis is deliberately on networking with the event structured to maximise meaningful, pre‑matched interactions between MGAs and capacity providers.

Beyond events, Pitt sees value in sharing best practices. How MGA-carrier relationships start. How they are structured. Where they succeed. Where they run into trouble.

FASE, he said, is about facilitation rather than prescription.

“We are going to be talking constantly to our members about what can we do… that will help,” Pitt said. “It’s really not a matter of us… trying to foist things from the membership. It’s going to come from the membership.”