It has been a rough couple of years for the insurance industry, yet despite the adversity, some businesses have managed to get a lot of things done amid the pandemic.
APOLLO Insurance is one such company; the managing general agent (MGA) continues to create integration partnerships with online vendor platforms – recently with those in the landlord and tenant management space – in order to make the products on its proprietary APOLLO Exchange marketplace more accessible.
Margo Lyons, the vice president of broker distribution at APOLLO Insurance, recently spoke at one of Insurance Business Canada’s panels on how the company has managed to secure success, and she had plenty to say.
“MGAs exist for specialization. And traditionally, that specialization has really been within underwriting expertise itself,” Lyons said. “But with APOLLO, we kind of approached specialization in a different way – by saying, ‘We’re going to specialize in small transactional business.’”
Lyons stressed that APOLLO has not only leaned towards small transactional business but also made sure that it can serve the industry as “efficiently and effectively” as possible.
“It might be a bold statement, but our goal is to be better than anyone else in the industry in serving that segment.”
The VP also mentioned that apart from specialization and focus, the fundamentals of business – such as maintaining consistency – remain key components for success.
“We have so many opportunities. Each of us as MGAs, we see new opportunities for growth and for business every day,” Lyons commented. “And part of the challenge with that is understanding what that focus is, and making those tough decisions or trade-offs, so that we can continue to meet or surpass the value proposition that we’re committing to.”
Lyons joked that APOLLO’s specialty focus on small transactional business has even managed to “delight the socks off [its] brokers,” as it provides a tailored solution to a very small and specific part of their day.
Listen to more of Lyons’ insights today: What are the biggest trends in the Canadian MGA market?
