A leadership change at Sterling Insurance is less a routine succession and more the latest step in a deliberate platform build by ATC Insurance Solutions – a group that has publicly disclosed a gross written premium target of more than $300 million for the year ending June 2026. Shane Sheppard has been appointed chairman of Sterling Insurance following the departure of long-serving managing director and chairman Tony Parington, who leaves at the end of July 2026 after nearly 23 years with the business. Sheppard has held senior roles in the Australian insurance sector and has a long-standing association with ATC Insurance Solutions.
Parington has been involved with Sterling since its inception in 2003, when the business was established as part of International Underwriting Services. He has played a key role in the company’s development over nearly 23 years, serving in senior leadership positions including managing director and chairman. His departure comes roughly 13 months after ATC completed its acquisition of 100% of Sterling’s issued share capital for $33.2 million in June 2025.
Post-acquisition leadership transitions at this interval are a well-established pattern in MGA consolidation. In a statement, Parington said: “I have really enjoyed working at Sterling and we have built the company up to something special. However, I have run my race with Sterling after nearly 23 years, and I am excited to start a new chapter in my life. Being a part of the ATC Group, Sterling will grow to the next level.”
For the first time since the Sterling acquisition, a post-acquisition GWP figure for ATC has been publicly disclosed. In its half-year results published in October 2025, BP Marsh – which holds a 27% stake in ATC – reported that ATC is budgeting gross written premium in excess of $300 million for the year ending June 30, 2026. When BP Marsh first invested in ATC in 2018, the business produced approximately $61 million in GWP. The trajectory from $61 million to a $300 million budget across seven years – with two acquisitions in the final 13 months – defines the scale of the group’s expansion.
ATC has described its acquisition strategy as building a broader, globally connected specialty underwriting platform with deep technical capability and strong carrier partnerships. Sterling adds specialist liability, professional indemnity (PI), aviation, asbestos liability, and environmental liability to ATC’s existing lines. The May 2026 acquisition of Frontier Global Underwriting adds D&O, financial lines, cyber, crime, and emerging market risks. ATC’s own portfolio covers construction, plant and machinery, cyber, sports, leisure and events, and accident and health, underwritten by Lloyd’s and major Australian insurers. The combined group now spans a substantially broader range of specialty lines than ATC held before mid-2025.
Among the developments disclosed in the Sterling announcement, the securing of a professional indemnity binding authority with Lloyd’s carries the most immediate commercial significance for brokers. In Australia, all Lloyd’s coverholders must hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) regardless of the type of business they are writing, must comply with the General Insurance Code of Practice, and must have a sponsoring Lloyd’s broker or managing agent that completes its own due diligence before the application reaches Lloyd’s Delegated Authorities Team.
The process is substantive. For Sterling, coverholder status in PI means it can now bind risks directly against Lloyd’s syndicate capacity in that line – changing its competitive position relative to agencies that place PI through a separate Lloyd’s broker. The market timing is notable: according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) intermediated general insurance statistics for the December 2025 half-year, premiums placed with Lloyd’s underwriters through Australian intermediaries totalled $2.99 billion, up from $2.5 billion in the June 2025 period. Lloyd’s-backed intermediated premium is growing, and coverholder appointments provide direct access to that channel.
Sterling’s transition sits within a structural shift across Australia’s MGA sector that is accelerating under regulatory pressure. Australia now has 301 underwriting agencies writing approximately $10.8 billion in gross written premium, representing about 20% of the general insurance market – a sector that has expanded 470% since 2014-15, with a 12.3% uptick in the last financial year. Macquarie Equity Research forecasts a wave of M&A among smaller agencies as the CPS 230 operational risk regime takes effect, identifying 45 privately held firms as likely acquisition targets, with larger groups such as Steadfast and AUB already expanding their ownership stakes and capital backing. CPS 230 took effect in July 2025 alongside the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) in March 2025, placing new governance and continuity obligations on insurers and their distribution partners – requirements that group-backed MGAs like Sterling are better placed to absorb than smaller independents.
Sterling continues operating across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, with its existing product lines intact. Linda King remains as liability underwriter and director. James Emerson continues as both director and head of liability. Karen Neate and Leanne Leach continue as head of aviation and head of professional indemnity respectively – all three appointed in the months following the ATC acquisition.
Sheppard said: “I look forward to working closely with the management team to continue Sterling’s growth trajectory. Sterling has an outstanding brand, highly talented people, and a clear strategic direction. The business is extremely well positioned to capitalise on future opportunities while continuing to deliver specialist solutions and service excellence to brokers and clients.” The retention of the full department head structure, combined with the now-disclosed $300 million-plus GWP target for ATC, signals that the group’s priorities are growth and operational consolidation – not restructuring.
