Even though responses to the questions on the perceived size of the PA/MGA market continue to reflect it as large, the respondents in 2014 returned to the views of the earliest years of the survey. The largest percentage of respondents (43 percent) believed the market to be sized at USD30 billion to USD40 billion. This range tied with the percentage of respondents (43 percent) believing that the market is sized at USD20 billion to USD30 billion. Interestingly, no respondents believed the market was smaller than USD20 billion or larger than USD50 billion, a first. Fourteen percent of respondents felt the market stood between USD40 to USD50 billion, the highest that number has been since 2008 when it came in at 13 percent.
The results indicate that respondents believe the PA/MGA marketplace has shifted dramatically since 2012 and will continue to grow. Sixty-three percent of respondents believe this segment will grow, while none see it shrinking.
The majority, 53 percent, say their production pipeline will remain the same while 27 percent perceive the pipeline production will be larger this year than last.
Program marketplace profitability was addressed again this year with 73 percent of the respondents believing the combined ratio for the PA/MGA market is greater than 95 percent and 27 percent believing it is less than 95 percent. This represents a significant swing in opinion from 2012 when 15 percent of respondents felt the combined ratio was over 100 percent. In the current survey none of the respondents believed it was over 100 percent, the same result as in 2012. While the program marketplace is expected to remain profitable, the perception of the extent of the profitability has changed significantly.
