The Managing General Agent (MGA) market in Europe is experiencing significant growth, with industry leaders projecting it could reach $50 billion within five years. Howden Re executives shared their insights on this trend in a recent interview with The Insurer.
Elliot Richardson, Executive Chair at Howden Re, said that MGAs have evolved from being a niche concept to becoming an established distribution model that connects insurance capacity with targeted, data-driven portfolios of risk. He described the European MGA sector as “a $20 billion market no longer an experiment, but a proven opportunity,” and suggested it has the potential to more than double in size over the next few years.
Sebastian Cook, Deputy CEO of Howden Re International, pointed out that alignment and transparency are now central to relationships between MGAs and reinsurers. He highlighted a shift towards long-term specialist partnerships, where capacity is allocated more efficiently and with greater discipline.
Eloise Hurley Wellington, Director at Bowood Insurance—a part of Howden Re’s Global Programmes division—emphasized the importance of combining local expertise with global data insight. She explained that this approach allows MGAs to offer diversification and quality access to specialized European risks. These factors are influencing treaty strategies for 2026 in Baden-Baden.
The continued evolution of Europe’s MGA sector reflects broader industry efforts to develop distribution models that enhance data transparency, maintain underwriting discipline, and improve capital efficiency. As a result, MGAs are becoming an integral component of the reinsurance landscape across the continent.