MGA guide
An MGA (managing general agent) writes insurance on an insurer's capacity under delegated underwriting authority. Because the carrier has to oversee that work, the carrier relationship shapes what an MGA buys, who weighs in, and when its needs change.
Book a demoLast updated October 6, 2026
The short answer
An MGA underwrites insurance on another company's capacity under delegated authority, so its carrier partner shapes what it buys: under the NAIC model act, monthly accounts, records the insurer can use, timely claims data and on-site reviews. Sell to the founder or CEO with operations, underwriting and technology heads, and expect carrier oversight. Clean finds MGAs with a real reason to buy.
An MGA, or managing general agent, is a firm that writes insurance for an insurance company on that insurer's capacity, under delegated underwriting authority. MGAs and program administrators buy software for the carrier relationship as much as for themselves: the founder or CEO usually signs, and what they buy has to produce the accounts, records and claims data each capacity partner expects.
The insurer carries the risk. The MGA accepts or declines risks within the carrier's underwriting guidelines, binds them, and under many contracts handles claims too. AM Best reported on 2026-06-30 that in 2025 MGAs were granted underwriting authority in more than 75% of their carrier contracts, and AM Best groups MGAs with similar firms as delegated underwriting authority enterprises, or DUAEs.
The regulator's version is narrower. The NAIC's Managing General Agents Act (Model #225, October 2002 edition) defines an MGA as a person who manages all or part of an insurer's business and acts as its agent, producing and underwriting premium equal to at least 5% of the insurer's policyholder surplus in any one quarter or year, together with adjusting or paying claims above $10,000 per claim or negotiating reinsurance for the insurer. Its drafting note says firms that call themselves MGAs may not meet that test.
A program administrator is a delegated-authority firm organized around programs: insurance products built for one niche market or class of business. TMPAA (the Target Markets Program Administrators Association) defined program administrators in its 2025 study as companies offering insurance products tailored to specific niche markets or classes, typically placed with a single carrier, with binding and underwriting authority as the main test.
The labels overlap. TMPAA itself says its study, a survey of its member administrators and carriers, covers a narrower group than broader industry reports on MGAs and program business, which is one reason the market numbers below differ. For a seller, the difference is the unit of work. A program administrator's world is organized program by program, each with its carrier and its own rules and reporting. An MGA may write several lines across several capacity partners. Ask which one you are talking to before you scope a demo.
There is no single number. Three publishers measure three different things; never add, average or swap their figures.
AM Best put direct premium written through delegated underwriting authority enterprises at $108.7 billion in 2025, up from $92.3 billion in 2024, the fifth consecutive year of direct premium growth (press release, 2026-06-30). Conning estimates total US MGA premium at approximately $128 billion for 2025, and says reported MGA direct premium written grew 12% in 2025, more than double the roughly 5% growth of the wider property-casualty market (press release, 2026-07-28). TMPAA's 2025 study measured program business at $110.8 billion in 2024, up from $79 billion two years earlier, and estimated about 1,150 US program administrators in 2024.
If you are sizing a market, note the gap: neither the AM Best nor the Conning release opened for this page (2026-10-06) gives a count of US MGAs, and TMPAA's 1,150 is its own estimate of program administrators by its own definition only.
US MGA and program business figures, by publisher (different methods; never combine them)
| Publisher | What it measures | Figure | Period | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM Best | Direct premium written through delegated underwriting authority enterprises (MGAs and similar firms) | $108.7 billion, up from $92.3 billion in 2024 | 2025 | 2026-06-30 |
| Conning | Estimated total US MGA premium | About $128 billion; reported MGA direct premium written up 12% | 2025 | 2026-07-28 |
| TMPAA | Program business premium | $110.8 billion, up from $79 billion in 2022 | 2024 | 2025 study |
| TMPAA | Estimated US program administrators (TMPAA definition) | About 1,150 | 2024 | 2025 study |
Under the NAIC's MGA model act, the insurer is responsible for overseeing the MGA, and much of that oversight runs through data the MGA's systems produce. It is a model act: states that adopt it write their own versions and the duties differ, so read the state's own text and ask counsel. This page is context, not legal or compliance advice.
For a seller, the MGA is not the only reader of your product's output: monthly accounts, claims data and the records a carrier reviewer pulls on site all come out of the systems an MGA runs. A policy, rating, claims, data or reporting product gets judged on whether it produces what each carrier asks for without rework. Show the carrier-facing output in the demo, and ask early which reports the MGA owes and how they are built today. If you also sell to carriers, see our guide to selling software to insurance carriers.
The model act sets out the following.
More, by AM Best's account. Its 2026-06-30 release says the capacity afforded the sector "is becoming more selective" and describes "a sense of heightened oversight that is becoming a more intentional focus of insurers", with strategic partnerships more common than full acquisitions in investment activity.
Fronting adds a second layer of partners. Conning estimates that approximately 20% of total US MGA premium is supported through fronting carrier relationships, and that fronting carriers generated an estimated $22.6 billion in gross premium in 2025; it describes those relationships as connecting MGAs with insurers, reinsurers and alternative sources of risk capital (2026-07-28). In TMPAA's 2025 survey of its members, 19% of program administrators used hybrid fronting and 16% worked with fronting carriers. Every capacity partner brings its own contract, reporting and audit asks.
AI tools face one more question. The NAIC's model bulletin on insurers' use of AI (adopted December 4, 2023; adopted by 25 states plus the District of Columbia as of August 31, 2026) expects an insurer's written AI program to address AI systems whether developed by the insurer or a third-party vendor. It sets expectations for insurers, not vendors, but if your product puts AI into underwriting or claims an MGA runs for a carrier, expect that carrier's questions to reach you. Our NAIC AI model bulletin guide explains them.
The buying group is usually small and senior. The roles below are typical, not surveyed: no public study of MGA buying roles turned up in the research behind this page (as of 2026-10-06). See buying committee for the general pattern.
The constraints they buy against are documented. TMPAA's 2025 survey of its members found that the majority of administrators still provide core services in-house, named "fragmented data and technology infrastructure" among the sector's weaknesses, and found most respondents describing their AI use as "just scratching the surface". Conning's 2025 study puts MGAs ahead on technology adoption, with growing use of AI and analytics. In a single AM Best survey of more than 150 rated insurers and MGAs (published 2026-04-27), the largest impediments to AI adoption were data readiness, security and privacy, and integration with legacy systems.
Who usually shapes a software purchase at an MGA (typical roles, not surveyed)
| Role | What they usually own | What they will ask you |
|---|---|---|
| Founder or CEO | The signature; the trade-off between cost, growth plans and the carrier relationship | Does this help us keep or win capacity? |
| COO or head of operations | Daily processing and the reports owed to carriers | What does go-live take, and what happens to month-end accounts? |
| Head of underwriting or product | Rating, rules, appetite and new programs | Can we add a program, state or line without a rebuild? |
| CTO or head of technology | Integration, data and security | How does data get in and out, and who owns it? |
| Carrier or fronting partner | No signature, but oversight of the MGA's operations | Can we audit it and receive what we need, on time? |
Four kinds of moment change an MGA's systems and reporting. Each is a reason to buy, not proof that a purchase is open.
A new MGA has to set up policy, rating, billing, claims and carrier reporting from scratch. TMPAA's estimate of US program administrators rose to about 1,150 in 2024, "driven by the continuous entry of new participants". A new carrier partner or program brings a new contract and new reporting. In TMPAA's 2025 survey of its members, over half of administrators launched one to three new programs in the past two years, 42% planned two to three more in the next 24 months, and 84% of carriers exited at least one program, primarily due to poor performance. That counts carriers, not programs that moved.
Expansion into new states or lines means new products, rating, forms and partner connections; Conning's 2025 MGA and Program Market Survey (a single survey) found 93% of MGAs exploring new markets. Rising submissions are the fourth: intake and triage tools get bought when volume outruns underwriters. No published figure for MGA submission growth turned up in our research, and premium growth is not submission growth.
See our trigger event entry and how Clean thinks about buyer signals.
Moments that change an MGA's needs, and what each one does not prove
| Moment | What it changes | Who usually decides | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| A new MGA or program administrator launches | Policy, rating, billing, claims and carrier reporting, all set up from scratch | Founder or CEO | That capacity is signed or that budget exists for your category |
| A new carrier, fronting or capacity partner | A new contract with its own accounts, records and audit asks | CEO with the COO | That current systems cannot meet them |
| A new program, or a program moving after a carrier exits | New rating, forms, rules and partner connections | Head of underwriting or product | That the program goes live on the date announced |
| Expansion into new states or lines | New products, rating, forms and partner connections | Head of underwriting with the CTO | That expansion triggers a software purchase |
| Rising submissions | Pressure on intake and triage | COO and head of underwriting | Any growth rate; none is published |
Clean finds agencies, brokerages, MGAs and carriers with a real reason to buy what you sell, shows the evidence behind each one, names the people to reach, and shows who in your network can introduce you. You tell Clean who to look for by industry, size, region and what you sell, and who to leave out, such as current customers. Every reason comes with the evidence behind it, so your team can check it. What Clean cannot confirm stays marked unknown.
Clean is not a list vendor, a contact database, intent data or an AI SDR, so there is no list of MGAs on this page and none for sale. Clean does not send messages for you; your team decides who to contact and what to say. Selling to agencies too? They buy differently: see selling software to insurance agencies, and, for agencies bought by a larger platform, what changes after an agency acquisition. Or start from Clean for insurance. Book a demo to see MGAs in your market with a real reason to buy, the evidence, and who to reach.
An MGA, or managing general agent, is a firm that writes insurance for an insurer on that insurer's capacity under delegated underwriting authority. The insurer carries the risk, while the MGA accepts and binds risks within the carrier's guidelines and, under many contracts, handles claims. The NAIC's model act sets a narrower legal test based on premium written and claims or reinsurance authority, and notes that firms calling themselves MGAs may not meet it.
The labels overlap. TMPAA's 2025 study of its members defines a program administrator as a company offering insurance products tailored to specific niche markets or classes, typically placed with a single carrier, with binding and underwriting authority as the main test. MGA is the broader industry term for firms that write business under an insurer's delegated authority. A program administrator's work is organized program by program; an MGA may write several lines across several capacity partners.
It depends on the publisher, and the figures should not be combined. AM Best counted $108.7 billion of 2025 direct premium written through delegated underwriting authority enterprises (June 30, 2026). Conning estimates about $128 billion of total US MGA premium for 2025 (July 28, 2026). TMPAA's 2025 study put program business at $110.8 billion in 2024 and estimated about 1,150 US program administrators.
Usually through a small senior group: the founder or CEO with the heads of operations, underwriting or product, and technology. Those roles are typical, not surveyed. The carrier or fronting partner does not sign but oversees the MGA, so software is judged partly on whether it produces the accounts, records and claims data each carrier needs. In TMPAA's 2025 survey of its members, most program administrators still ran core services in-house.
Under the NAIC's Managing General Agents Act, a model that adopting states write in their own versions, the insurer expects a written contract, accounts of all transactions at least monthly, separate records it can access in a usable form, timely claims reporting where the MGA settles claims, timely transmission of electronic claims data, and an on-site review of underwriting and claims at least semi-annually. Check the state's own text with your counsel before relying on any of it.
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