How MGAs can use pricing and underwriting platforms to navigate a changing market

Across the United Kingdom and United States, the Managing General Agent (MGA) market has been experiencing an extended period of expansion. Premium written by MGAs continues to achieve double-digit growth, and now more than 1,000 MGAs are operating in the US, with the UK market comprised of more than 350.

Many commentators point to positive market conditions as the reason behind this ongoing expansion. A hard insurance market has produced stable rates and a wealthy supply of eager return-seeking capital.

But are conditions about to change? In the United Kingdom, at least, the market is in a softening phase. The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) P&C Market Index for Q1-25 reported a fall in premium increases to 4.2% from 5.4% in Q4-24. This presents a challenge for those MGAs whose growth has been fuelled by stellar conditions and a large, eager market of capacity providers.

Sources of competitive advantage in a softening market

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Data?

Capacity partners look to MGAs to provide deep, domain-specific underwriting experience.

Experienced underwriting teams and longstanding relationships are often sufficient for credibility. But how can MGAs ensure that this experience scales out beyond a single member of the team?

MGAs use pricing and underwriting platforms to build out vast proprietary datasets. hx Renew captures granular data from:

• Submission details

• Bound decisions

• Exposure data

• Renewal information

• Declined risks

Pricing and underwriting platforms not only capture this data, but are capable of surfacing insight within the underwriter workflow, at the point of pricing. This enhances decision-making, bring full context to an underwriter, with insights and graphs updated in real-time to enrich that final decision.

hx Renew does not just capture data but also structures it in a way that facilitates immediate access and analysis.

Model accuracy?

In a stable, hard market, updating models quickly is rarely a top priority. However, as margins tighten and market dynamics shift, the need to continuously refine models—to incorporate new claims experience, identify emerging trends, and respond to evolving economic conditions—becomes far more critical.

MGAs with the capability to update models quickly are better equipped to reflect the current risk environment, supporting more accurate and responsive pricing. hx Renew helps MGAs to efficiently build new models and update existing ones, making ongoing maintenance and adaptation far easier. The ability to develop and implement models swiftly can unlock new opportunities—especially when moving into new lines of business.

Those without the necessary infrastructure, expertise, or technology partnerships may struggle to keep pace. This can leave both MGAs and their capacity providers more exposed to unexpected losses, as models fail to keep up with a rapidly changing market.

Operational speed?

Even the tech-savviest of MGAs can struggle with unexpected operational friction. In a softening market, capacity providers may favour partners that can respond more quickly to a submission.

In many cases, MGAs lack streamlined processes to triage and prioritise broker submissions, leading to slower quote turnaround times, strained capacity relationships, and missed opportunities.

Those who act quickly to reduce operational drag are better positioned to strengthen their most valuable growth asset: capacity partnerships. Efficient, data-driven operations not only improve the bottom line—they make MGAs more responsive and attractive to both brokers and capacity providers.

Pricing sophistication creates competitive advantage

MGAs who invest not simply in underwriting judgement, but in operational precision and data-driven advantage, stand best positioned to compete in a softening market. Three levers stand out:

Quote turnaround as a conversion engine

In softening markets, retaining capacity often becomes a function of broker preference and quote-to-bind time.

For many brokers, 48 hours has become a de facto threshold: carriers that can issue terms (or at least meaningful indications) within this window secure preferential broker attention, earlier placement slots, and ultimately a larger share of total submissions.

For capacity providers, this translates directly into confidence. MGAs unable to meet these benchmarks risk being bypassed by both brokers and carriers.

Granular data capture as a competitive moat

But speed alone is not sufficient. Sustained margin defence demands underwriting insight that is sharper than competitors’. This requires creating granular, structured datasets that create true intellectual property.

As outlined in Unlocking the Power of Data Capture in Underwriting, MGAs who treat every interaction — submission, quote, declination, claim — as a data capture event begin to build an underwriting asset that compounds over time. Cleansed, structured, and tagged correctly, this repository allows MGAs to iterate pricing models rapidly, spot emerging trends, and underwrite with greater precision than peers.

Risk selection as a growth tactic

Finally, sophistication enables MGAs to move further down the tower. As rates compress, margin is increasingly protected through better risk selection. This requires pricing models that are performant, up-to-date, sophisticated and useful for underwriters.

MGAs who can price more confidently — and with more conviction — are able to take on more complex or volatile layers of risk, moving closer to the economics of primary capacity providers, and securing greater margin resilience even as rates soften.

A new playbook for growth?

As the market shifts, the next generation of successful MGAs will be defined by their ability to operate not just as distribution specialists, but as sophisticated underwriting businesses with unassailable competitive moats. The playbook is emerging:

1. Accelerate quote response times without compromising on discipline

2. Build proprietary data assets leveraging all data capture opportunities

3. Choose a rating engine that enhances risk selection

4. Build and prove underwriting discipline to capacity partners

hyperexponential is supporting MGAs in their quest for growth. Discover how Rising Edge, a boutique underwriting agency, went from pre-revenue to market-ready in just three months using hx Renew. Read the full story of their launch here.