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MSI warns MGAs must keep underwriting discipline as property rates soften
AM Best data shows US delegated underwriting authority premiums rose to $108.7 billion in 2025, up from $92.3 billion in 2024, even as capacity providers become more selective about long term loss performance.
The US managing general agent market is still growing at a double digit pace, but MSI president Bill Wilson said the next phase of expansion depends on MGAs staying selective as competition intensifies and property pricing softens.
Wilson warned that MGAs should not let premium targets override underwriting commitments made to carrier partners, arguing that they must retain the ability to decline business when rates weaken. He pointed to property rates that have moved to levels not seen since around 2016, and said they arrived quickly through the cycle.
The remarks come as delegated underwriting scales up. AM Best said direct premiums written sourced through US delegated underwriting authority enterprises reached $108.7 billion in 2025, rising from $92.3 billion in 2024 and marking a fifth straight year of growth, while Conning estimated US MGA direct premiums written reached $114.1 billion in 2024, a 16% annual increase.
Wilson said capacity is getting more selective, with more emphasis on long term underwriting quality and stable loss ratios. He also described how MSI’s mix across habitational exposure, umbrella limits up to $50 million, cyber, and directors and officers and employment practices liability creates different market pressures, and that MSI is responding with training, stronger systems, and clearer authority to reject risks that do not meet its standards.