Back in February, the Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA) announced the retirement of its longstanding managing director, Peter Staddon, and today the Association has revealed that Mike Keating (pictured) will be taking over as the new MD. Keating, who will assume this role on September 08, will be responsible for overseeing the continued growth of the Association’s membership and for increasing its levels of engagement with both insurers and brokers.
He will be focused on making sure that the requirements of MGAs are understood and met with a broader range of membership benefits. Keating joins from Qlaims Limited, where he carried out the role of chief development officer and held senior leadership roles in several personal and commercial lines MGA businesses during his almost 30 years in the insurance sector.
Keating’s previous roles included positions at UK General and One Commercial (part of Primary Group) and he is a former MD of Intermediary & Partnerships at AXA Personal Lines. During his tenure at UK General, he also served as an MGAA board member.
Speaking on this appointment, the chair of the MGAA, Charles Manchester said that Keating’s understanding of the operational challenges MGAs face in building and sustaining a business in the current market will be of substantial benefit to MGAA members.
“The speciality lines sector faces capacity challenges, a continual hardening of the rating environment and the impact of COVID-19,” Manchester said. “Mike’s background in the insurer and broking management areas will be equally as important to us as we work to develop our capacity provider and broker relationships to create mutual opportunities for all parties.”
Meanwhile, Keating said he is delighted to be joining the Association at this time, when the industry is looking to tackle the challenges prevalent both before the COVID-19 pandemic and those which have emerged during the crisis.
“MGAs have a continuing key role to play in delivering underwriting value to capacity providers as well as offering relevant products to meet the needs of their distribution partners,” Keating said. “The Association will strive to ensure all the necessary support, engagement and tools are available for MGAs to meet these challenges both now and in the future.”
Staddon who is retiring is August will continue to work with the Association on a part-time basis until Keating joins in September to ensure a smooth transition.
