ShareInsly’s welcome return to MGAA 2022 Conference
Insly were delighted to attend this year's MGAA 2022 Conference in London (29th June 2022), after a three-year break. Established in 2011, the MGAA (Managing General Agent Association) annual conference attracts over 900 delegates, including MGAs, market practitioners, and suppliers.
Each year, MGAA conference attendees meet to discuss the latest developments in the MGA and insurance sector. The events focus on training and education, including presentations, breakout sessions, and exhibition stands showcasing cutting-edge insurtech solutions.
Our representatives, Märtin Kosk (Head of Sales) and Luc Oppenheim (Senior Account Executive), exhibited Insly's low-code virtual underwriting assistant platform. They also did a great deal of networking with MGAs, as trade shows are the perfect opportunity to meet new people and share with them the business benefits of Insly’s platform.
Insly was proud to be exhibiting at this year's MGAA event
MGAA events also connect delegates with industry experts, giving presentations on a wide range of topics –– everything from cybersecurity to regulation change and compliance. Plus, there’s also the chance to hear from guest keynote speakers. This year, UK Olympic gold medalist, Victoria Pendelton, spoke about mental strength and how her resiliency skills helped her win gold at the London 2012 Olympics.
Märtin Kosk, Insly’s Head of Sales, shared his comments on this year's conference:
"The annual MGAA event is one of the best insurance conferences for Insly because the MGA segment is crucial for us. Some of the other bigger events, like BIBA, are good as well, but the MGAA is more focused.”
The benefits of MGAA membership
There are many perks to being a MGAA member and various membership level options available. MGAA Supplier members, for example, can set up briefings at MGAA events and discuss their solutions for tackling the most important issues to MGAs and insurance companies. For example, suppliers can consult on automated solutions to help businesses process their sales processes more efficiently.
"We did a Market Briefing with one of our customers at the old Lloyds library a few years back, which was very well received. So, we are probably thinking about doing something similar again later this year."
Märtin cites the ability to make connections with MGA as another key advantage of MGAA membership:
“We found some of our first UK MGA customers from the ranks of MGAA members, and while most of the companies in the MGAA we are familiar with and have met, the association is always adding new members.”
He also noted that MGAA affiliation is seen as a 'badge of trust' within the MGA and insurtech industries: "Being a supplier member of MGAA adds credibility to our product and validation that our solutions are accepted in the market."
Insly and brands interested in becoming MGAA members also benefit from preferential access to market research and the MGA Assess platform. The platform is an education and training tool that shares up-to-date industry knowledge, enabling MGA companies to upskill their employees.
Why Insly took a short sabbatical from MGAA membership
The 2022 MGAA Conference in London was the first membership event Insly attended in three years. Märtin explained why Insly took a short break from their MGAA affiliation for the duration of the pandemic:
"In 2019, we made a conscious decision to pull back on actively marketing our product to new customers and focus on research and development (R&D) instead. We wanted to upgrade our product to make a complete shift to no/low-code technology. The previous Insly system was extensive in functionality and covered a lot.”
"Still, the issue was the setup could be quite lengthy and complex (and expensive to the customer as a result). It was not always easy to replicate new functionalities to the whole client base, as each customer had a lot of custom logic.”
“While we were busy building our new product and launching the first customers on Insly in 2020, the global pandemic hit, which stopped a lot of the events and in-person networking. So from that perspective, we wouldn't have the full benefits of the MGAA membership. When we rejoined in 2022, we knew we were coming back with a strong product that's been tested in multiple markets.”
Observations from this year's welcome return to MGAA 2022 Conference
In Märtin’s experience, this year’s MGAA seemed very busy in terms of footfall. He noted that he saw more suppliers, consultants and other IT companies in attendance than he had at previous events.
“It shows that the space around MGA software and services is maturing and there’s a lot of good players out there.”
What Insly learned from the MGAA 2022 Conference
One of the key takeaways from the conference is that demand for underwriting workbench solutions is steadily increasing.
“A lot of companies that underwrite complex types of insurance – who may have shielded themselves from automated systems previously –– are beginning to see that they can get significant benefits from a modern underwriting system.”
Märtin concluded his thoughts from the show, “It shows how the underwriting solutions have evolved as well — deploying a system previously made sense mainly for high volume, lower premium, simpler type insurance products. Still, now the systems have become so flexible that it's possible to bring significant value to the highly complex, underwriter-driven, high premium types of insurance as well."
The feedback from Insly's product demo exhibit was overwhelmingly positive. The sales team made new connections, reconnected with old acquaintances, and arranged several Insly product demo appointments for after the show.
All in all, the 2022 MGAA conference was a huge success, and we look forward to attending again in the future.
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