Barbados is positioning itself as a rising domicile for managing general agents (MGAs), with Active Re chief operating officer Robert Ali arguing the Caribbean island can compete with Bermuda, Guernsey and Cayman for a share of a global MGA market worth more than $104 billion.
Speaking at the Barbados Risk & Insurance Management Conference (BRIM), Ali said the MGA channel had outgrown its niche origins and now sat at the core of how insurance and reinsurance capacity was distributed.
"The MGA model responds to a real market need: specialization, agility, and the ability to scale intelligently," he said. "It is not a passing trend; it is a structural evolution of the business."
The numbers behind the pitch are significant. Research published by Conning in 2025 valued the US MGA market alone at $115 billion in premium, while AM Best has reported that 19 MGAs wrote more than $500 million in direct premium in 2024, up from 12 a year earlier.
Double-digit growth, Ali argued, reflects deeper industry shifts: digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the rise of specialty lines spanning cyber, parametric risk and digital assets.
Ali pointed to three pillars behind the island's case: a risk-based capital framework, efficient licensing timelines and a competitive tax environment.
That pitch lands at a moment when rival domiciles are recalibrating. Bermuda introduced a 15% corporate income tax that took effect in 2025, eroding one of its traditional advantages.
Guernsey continues to regulate MGAs under a dedicated Insurance Managers framework, while the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority targets licensing decisions within around six weeks, according to its published guidance.
Barbados, Ali said, now has an opening to differentiate on both speed and regulatory rigor.
For Active Re itself, the MGA debate is not academic. The Barbados-domiciled reinsurer, rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best since 2018, runs seven MGAs across Latin America, North America, EMEA and APAC.
Those partnerships accounted for roughly 46% of its $223.8 million in gross written premium last year through delegated authority programs, the company disclosed in its 2024 Annual Report.
Ali has previously acknowledged that MGAs bring regulatory and compliance challenges, but described them as an efficient route into new markets and lines of business when paired with disciplined oversight.
At BRIM, he returned to that theme.
"I am convinced that the future of the market lies in smarter structures, where technology and specialization enable growth without losing technical discipline," he said.
His prescription for the industry was threefold: align capabilities, lean into specialization, and choose jurisdictions that combine efficiency with regulatory rigor.
"Barbados has the potential to be a central part of that evolution," he said.
