Sign in

Insights

10 July 2024

Volante International named best MGA in UKGI

The MGA was one of six firms to be recognised with a Gold Award for 2024

Our latest research has revealed Volante International as the best MGA in UKGI after an analysis of the financial performance of more than 40 firms in our MGA Performance Report 2024, published in association with the MGA Association (MGAA). 

Volante International earned an MGA Rating of 75%, securing top spot for the second consecutive year and achieving a Gold Award for the third year in a row. Despite a 13 percentage point fall from last year, the MGA’s rating remains 23 percentage points above the market average, driven by market-leading productivity metrics. 

Based on our proprietary formula, devised specifically for this research, Insurance DataLab rates 41 providers across three key pillars – profitability, growth and productivity – with the top performers all receiving an Insurance DataLab Gold Award.  

Volante International is joined on the list of top performers by Euclid Transactional UK with 72%, MPR Underwriting (71%), Castel Underwriting Agencies (68%), and Sutton Specialist Risks and Optio Underwriting both achieving a score of 66%. 

Profitability Down, But Productivity Given a Boost 

Overall performance has fallen slightly to an average of 52.7%, down 0.8 percentage points on last year’s 53.5% rating. Nevertheless, this average is an improvement on the 2022 and 2021 scores of 50.9% and 50.0%, respectively. 

The decrease in overall performance was primarily driven by a drop in profitability, with the three-year aggregate EBITDA margin falling to 11.4%, which knocked 1.9 percentage points off the average Profitability Rating as it fell to 48.6%. 

However, this was partially offset by an increase in the Productivity Rating, which rose by 0.6 percentage points to 55.4% after average turnover per employee climbed to more than £164,000. This is up from less than £132,000 just two years ago, indicating that the MGA market is setting itself up for sustainable success in the years to come. 

We will discuss these findings – and what makes for a successful MGA in today's market – in our upcoming webinar, How MGAs can Succeed in a Volatile World. The webinar takes place on 16 July at 11am, and we will be joined by Kate Albert from new MGA Kova, the MGAA’s Mike Keating and BSpoke Group CEO Tim Smyth.

No Longer the Hidden Gem 

Writing in his guest column for the report, Keating said that MGAs have grown in importance in recent years, and are no longer the “hidden gem” of the insurance industry as he predicted a bright future for the industry. 

“The MGA community remains an entrepreneurial, exciting, fast-moving environment to work in and will continue to succeed, provided it regularly uses its muscle memory in how it got there,” he said. “Ultimately, MGAs remain the jewel in the crown but are now an integral, identified part of the insurance eco-system – hidden no more!” 

Meet the Best MGAs in UKGI 

  1. Volante International – 75% 
  1. Euclid Transactional UK – 72% 
  1. MPR Underwriting – 71% (Best performing MGA with revenues of £5m or less) 
  1. Castel Underwriting Agencies – 68% 
  1. Sutton Specialist Risks – 66% (Best performing MGA with revenues of between £5m and £15m) 
  1. Optio Underwriting – 66% 

Further insights, including a breakdown of performance by revenue band, are available in the 2024 edition of the Insurance DataLab MGA Performance Report, which can be downloaded for free here. 

If you are one of this year’s Gold Award winners and would like a license to use this independent endorsement, contact Dan King.   

Insurance DataLab also offers tailored benchmarking reports to compare the performance of individual companies across the three pillars that make up the overall Insurance DataLab MGA Rating. You can request further details here. 

Sign up to receive insight and analysis in our free monthly newsletter

Register here
© Insurance DataLab 2023. Insurance DataLab is owned and operated by MAD Financial Media Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 12418752.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram