Bermuda’s MGA moment

The model is becoming a permanent part of Bermuda’s insurance architecture, says Mereo Insurance and Cedar Trace’s Brian Duperreault.

I am honoured to open this section of the Bermuda Risk Review, and pleased to see managing general agents (MGAs) given their own well-deserved chapter in this year’s edition. Their inclusion reflects what many of us in the market have seen for some time: the MGA model has become an increasingly important and prevalent part of the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance landscape.

That evolution is not accidental. It speaks to a broader shift in how underwriting talent, capital, data and distribution are coming together across the industry. Bermuda has always been a market that responds quickly to change, and the growth of MGAs is another example of that adaptability in action.

At Cedar Trace, we have seen that dynamic first-hand. Our model, built in Bermuda and closely aligned with Mereo Insurance, reflects many of the same principles driving the MGA market more broadly: specialist underwriting talent, disciplined capital, analytical capability and a structure designed to move with purpose. It is not about making every MGA look like an insurer. It is about creating platforms where experienced underwriters have the tools, autonomy, claims handling, governance and capital alignment to perform through cycles.

That agility is important. Without the burden of legacy systems, many MGAs can adopt data tools, analytics and AI-enabled processes more quickly than larger incumbent platforms. That allows underwriters to spend more time assessing risk, shaping portfolios and making decisions – and less managing inefficient data processes.

That matters because insurance remains, at its core, an underwriting business. The real value is often created by people who know their class, have lived through cycles and understand when to lean in and when to walk away. The MGA model increasingly allows that talent to build around its expertise – and to share more directly in the value it creates.

The economics of the MGA market have also changed materially. Gone are the days, at least for the strongest operators, when the model was defined simply by fixed commissions and delegated authority. The better MGAs today understand that long-term value comes from alignment: with insurers, reinsurers, fronting partners and capital providers. That means sharing risk appropriately, building transparent portfolios, investing in claims and data and demonstrating that the relationship is not transactional but durable.

There is also real skill required from the capital side. Reinsurers who understand how to work with a pure front and an MGA, as distinct from working with a traditional insurer, will forge the strongest relationships. The nuance matters. The flow of risk, role of the front, quality of the underwriting authority, data feedback loop and alignment of economics all need to be understood properly. Those who can distinguish between an administrative fronting role and true underwriting participation will be better placed to choose the right partners and structure relationships that can perform over time.

At Cedar Trace, we value this skill deeply. Although we operate within an MGA structure, we also have relationships with Bermuda-based MGAs that have demonstrated this discipline and aptitude. Those relationships reinforce an important point: the best MGA partnerships are not built on paper alone, but on trust, underwriting credibility, transparency and a shared understanding of how value is created and protected.

The growth of Bermuda-based MGAs is also positive for the island itself. These businesses are hiring talent in Bermuda, creating additional depth in the local workforce and broadening the range of specialist roles available in the market. That matters. Bermuda’s global reputation has always rested on its ability to attract and develop world-class insurance expertise. The fact that MGAs are now adding to that ecosystem shows that the island is not simply observing change in the global market – it is embracing it and participating in it.

For Bermuda, the rise of MGAs should be seen not as a departure from the market’s strengths, but as an extension of them. The MGA model, at its best, is not a passing feature of the current market cycle, nor is it the simpler delegated authority model of the past. It has become far more sophisticated and is now a permanent and important part of the insurance architecture giving specialist underwriting talent a more flexible way to access capacity, build focused portfolios and participate in the value it creates. 

Bermuda has always brought together capital, expertise and innovation in ways that respond to changing risk. As MGAs become a more permanent part of the insurance architecture, the opportunity for Bermuda is not simply to participate in that evolution, but to help shape it.

Brian Duperreault is executive chairman of Mereo Insurance and Cedar Trace.

With thanks to supporting author Julia Mansfield, head of casualty at Mereo Insurance.

For more news on Bermuda Risk Review 2026, click here.

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