In Europe's fast-growing MGA market, scale has become the industry's preferred measure of success. Gerard Van Loon (pictured), founder and chief
executive of Brussels-based Alta Signa, believes that focus is misplaced.
"Scale is somewhat overrated, if I may say," he said.
The European MGA sector grew by approximately 15% in 2025 to surpass $23 billion in gross written premium, according to Howden Re. Yet Van Loon argued that growth alone is an incomplete measure of success. As market conditions become more challenging, underwriting profitability, cost discipline and carrier confidence will matter more than premium volume.
That challenge is already becoming visible in the current renewal environment. As rates soften, the gap between technical pricing requirements and what clients are willing to pay is widening. Carriers are paying close attention to that difference, particularly in classes where underwriting margins are coming under pressure.
"They really want to know: if you price your portfolio technically, what is the required premium volume to deliver your targeted loss ratio, versus what do you get in the market? If there is a deficit, they get very nervous," Van Loon said.
More significantly, he said some insurers have already begun withdrawing capacity from underperforming MGAs. Maintaining carrier confidence therefore becomes as important as winning business, requiring firms to walk away from risks that no longer make economic sense, even at the expense of growth.
"We need to be disciplined enough to walk away from business in order to secure the capacity," he said. "Because if we just chase market share and we end up having a premium deficit, we really risk jeopardising our capacity."
Discipline also extends beyond pricing. Van Loon argued that exposure management becomes increasingly important as rates soften. If a policy that once generated €100,000 of premium now generates €50,000 while carrying the same €10 million limit, the economics of the risk change materially. Exposure, he argued, must adjust alongside pricing.
Successful MGAs adjust both pricing and exposure rather than focusing on premium volume alone.
Transparency plays a role as well. Alta Signa gives capacity providers direct access to portfolio performance data and discloses its earnings on every risk, an approach Van Loon believes helps build trust during more difficult market conditions.
If discipline is one differentiator, flexibility is another. Alta Signa operates without long-term office leases across its European footprint and outsources functions such as HR and compliance, helping keep fixed costs below what Van Loon estimates would typically be found within a traditional insurer.
The aim is not simply efficiency. By automating parts of risk analysis and pricing, underwriters can spend more time with brokers and clients while applying their judgement where it adds the most value.
Technology forms part of that equation. Van Loon said Alta Signa is investing heavily in AI and automation, particularly around risk analysis and pricing, with the aim of reducing administrative workloads and allowing underwriters to spend more time with brokers and clients.
That flexibility also extends to underwriting strategy. While many classes face increasing competition, opportunities remain in underserved niches where specialist expertise can create value.
On financial lines, for example, he argued that pricing has yet to fully reflect the impact of rising insolvency risk. Allianz Trade forecasts global business insolvencies will rise by a further 5% in 2026, the fifth consecutive year of increases.
He expressed similar concerns about cyber insurance, particularly around supply-chain disruption and other emerging liability exposures that remain difficult to quantify.
Van Loon expects the MGA model to become increasingly important as insurers continue to centralise operations across Europe.
Many carriers have already consolidated their European businesses into single regulated entities while reducing local underwriting infrastructure. That creates an opportunity for MGAs to act as outsourced underwriting platforms, providing local expertise and market access without requiring insurers to build those capabilities themselves.
"The future of MGAs is really to become the underwriting arm for an insurance company, so they don't have to build their infrastructure in each and every country," he said.
As competition intensifies and capacity providers become more selective, premium growth may become a less reliable indicator of success. The MGAs that emerge strongest from the next phase of the cycle are unlikely to be defined by premium volume alone, but by their ability to maintain underwriting profitability, protect carrier confidence and remain selective when market conditions become more difficult.
