Accelerant Holdings has reported exchange written premium of $4.19 billion for 2025, up 35% year-over-year, as the Atlanta-based company accelerates its shift toward a capital-light business model that reflects broader industry trends favoring fee-based revenue over balance sheet risk.
Third-party direct written premium accounted for 40% of exchange volume in Q4, up from 21% in the prior-year quarter. For the full year, third-party premium represented 30% of exchange volume, compared with 16% in 2024.
Accelerant's evolution mirrors a significant industry shift as MGAs with capital-light models continue attracting capital while full-stack carriers struggle. In the United States, approximately 600 MGAs collectively place $47 billion in premiums - equivalent to roughly 7% of commercial and personal insurance markets. The MGA sector gained market share in 2025, with premiums growing 19% to $94 billion.
The capital-light approach enables insurance businesses to separate capital from origination, underwriting, and servicing functions, transforming them into balance sheet-light asset managers. This allows platforms like Accelerant to generate fee-based revenue while reducing the need to deploy their own balance sheet.
Adjusted net income totaled $51.2 million in Q4, up 30% year-over-year, reaching $178.7 million for the full year, up from $66.7 million in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA rose 52% to $71 million in Q4 and 149% to $282 million annually.
The company's gross loss ratio improved to 51.4% in Q4 from 57.8% in the prior-year quarter, and to 51.3% for the full year from 54.3% in 2024. The improvement comes as the broader specialty insurance market demonstrates resilience, with the 2024 P&C combined ratio of 96.5% marking the best performance in over a decade.
The Accelerant Risk Exchange platform grew to 280 members at year-end 2025, up from 217, with net revenue retention of 126%.
On leadership news, Jay Green (pictured) notified the board of his resignation as CFO effective March 31, 2026, to pursue personal interests.
Linda Huber, an experienced public company finance executive who previously held CFO positions at numerous financial information and analytics firms, has joined Accelerant as his successor.
"We closed out 2025 with a fantastic quarter, meeting or exceeding our expectations across our key operating metrics and continuing to expand the reach of the Accelerant Risk Exchange," CEO Jeff Radke said. "The value of our technology and AI-driven platform is resonating within the specialty market, as reflected in the increasing share of business placed with third-party insurers."
Accelerant expects exchange written premium of $1.07 billion to $1.13 billion in Q1 2026 and at least $5.1 billion for the full year, representing year-over-year growth exceeding 20%. Third-party direct written premium is projected to reach $450 million to $470 million in Q1 and at least $2.2 billion annually.
The company projects adjusted EBITDA of $64 million to $66 million in Q1 and at least $275 million for the full year. The board authorized a $200 million share repurchase program for Class A common shares.
