MGA

• Where Are PE Buyers?

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  August 5, 2011

  Private-equity firms are still interested in acquiring specialty wholesalers and managing general underwriters, but they are up against some aggressive competitors offering higher deal prices—like 6- to 8-times EBITDA, consultants say.

• Specialty Deals Stay Hot In 2011

  June 17, 2011

  Managing general agencies with special expertise in unique, narrow niches are attracting the most attention of potential buyers of specialty businesses, according to dealmakers and consultants who spoke to NU last week.

• Specialty Lines Spice Up M&A Deals

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  An overriding theme of the latest wave of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry: strategic buys of specialty-flavored books is specialization.

• P&C Profile: Fortegra Builds Multifaceted Service Group With Wholesaler At Core

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  The CEO of Fortegra Financial believes he has a distinct edge as he competes to acquire property and casualty wholesale brokerages and regional specialty agencies to add to his firm’s suite of insurance-service operations: Being a New York Stock Exchange-listed public company.

• Picky HIIG Seeks Unadvertised Specials

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  If you own an underwriting agency with a very specialized, quality book of business—and have no plans to sell it—then Stephen Way, CEO of Houston International Insurance Group, may want to talk about making a deal.

• Thinking Outside The Box Sets Rebranded Crum & Forster Specialty Ops Apart

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  For the CEO of Crum & Forster, Doug Libby, who voluntarily describes himself as “a contrarian,” there is little not to like about the $294 million deal, closed in February, that adds First Mercury Financial Corp. to his group’s specialty-insurance operations.

• MGAs Focus On Tech Basics, Not Bells & Whistles

  By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 3, 2011

  Managing general agents (MGA) face the daunting technology challenge of having to act as a data go-between with all the many groups with which they have relationships—so their focus remains on the basics, not next-generation technology.

• Distinguished Programs Builds Speed, Efficiency into PA, Service Platforms

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 6, 2011

  Jeremy Hitzig, CEO of Distinguished Programs and 2011 president of the Target Market Program Administrators Association, describes his firm’s strategies for achieving growth and efficiency, as well as ongoing initiatives at TMPAA.

• Program Administrators To Gather At TMPAA Midyear

  May 6, 2011

  Mark your calendars! NU provides highlights of the upcoming Target Market Program Administrators Midyear Meeting in Boston.

• Economic Crisis Launch Was Perfectly Timed For MGA Startup V3, CEO Says

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 6, 2011

  It may have seemed like horrible timing when Susan Rivera was starting up a program business-focused MGA in late 2009, but there were several advantages to launching in the wake of a global financial crisis and about six years into a soft property and casualty insurance market, she says.

• More Good Timing

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 6, 2011

  The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan are spurring interest in the earthquake Difference In Conditions (DIC) product at V3 Insurance Partner, according to President and CEO Susan Rivera.

• Economic Crisis Launch Was Perfectly Timed For MGA Startup V3, CEO Says

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  April 22, 2011

  It may have seemed like horrible timing when Susan Rivera was starting up a program business-focused MGA in late 2009, but there were several advantages to launching in the wake of a global financial crisis and about six years into a soft property and casualty insurance market, she says.

• MGAs Uncork Multiple New Program Niches

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  April 18, 2011

  In spite of carrier angst about backing start-up programs, MGAs are having success in launching new offerings for wine collectors, auto dealers and properties exposed to earthquake risk.

• Will Next Market Turn Be Traumatic For Program Administrators?

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  April 15, 2011

  With chatter about the next market turn heating up, experienced niche-market participants don’t anticipate a replay of the gut-wrenching turmoil that left some program administrators out in the cold during the last turn. But that doesn’t mean program books won’t need to be mended or that some carrier retrenchment from...

• Program Administrators To Gather At TMPAA Midyear

  By Staff Writer  |  April 15, 2011

  Mark your calendars! NU provides highlights of some upcoming specialty market insurance events, including the Target Market Program Administrators Midyear Meeting in Boston and NAPSLO’s upcoming webinar on NRRA implications.