Specialized expertise is what helps MGA leaders spot emerging risks, pursue new markets, and win business. It's also what becomes hard to scale when too much knowledge lives with a handful of people.
As the MGA market gets more competitive and the workforce is aging, leaders need to solve the riddle of how to scale expertise without depending on a few people to carry it all. MGAs can stand out by rethinking how they attract, hire, and train talent.
The growing challenge for MGAs
For the past several years, MGAs have been experiencing a boom. However, that boom has attracted fierce competition while the established MGA workforce is aging.
Vertafore's MGA workforce survey found that 67% of MGA professionals are 44 or older, and more than half have 20-plus years of insurance experience. There is a lot of institutional knowledge in MGAs, but that might also mean senior professionals carry a lot of weight at work.
MGAs have been looking to correct this. Our data shows that 58% of companies are looking to hire, but 68% also said hiring is a challenge. They're looking for ways to shore up underwriting judgment, market knowledge, and longstanding agency relationships.
The talent formula, now, is to codify knowledge, expand hiring, and make MGAs more appealing to workers early in their careers or who are new to insurance.
Codify knowledge to ease the workforce transition challenge
People who are great in business aren't necessarily equipped to be corporate trainers. Asking them to pause, formalize everything they do, and teach it in a neat way is doing a disservice to everyone involved.
Instead, leaders need to find simple ways to capture knowledge and pass it on. The end goal is to develop a knowledge base with underwriting playbooks, carrier appetite guides, submission checklists, renewal workflows, or notes on why certain deals were won or lost. But to do it with minimal effort.
Consider using AI tools to help by recording meetings or screen-capturing work and then using AI tools to transcribe and summarize the videos.
You might also directly tackle the bandwidth problem by clearing time on staff calendars for the effort or making it part of the offramp for senior staff as they approach retirement.
The result is a catalog of training materials where new staff can get trained directly by senior staff members while those staff members continue providing value.
Find new hires in new places
Many MGAs started their careers from outside insurance or by jumping into a new area from a related segment. It's a common story that someone "falls into" the area and sticks around because of the dynamic, entrepreneurial style of work.
Recruiting success is going to come from hiring candidates who have that entrepreneurial drive, too, and then onboarding and upskilling them appropriately.
Focus on what is and isn't trainable in your work. It might be easier to find someone with an operations, finance, or data background with the right attitude who can learn the underwriting or regulatory nuances. And using insurtech solutions like an MGA management system that keeps information centralized and organized can make it easier to train them without bogging down the process with outdated systems.
Make growth opportunities visible, even if they're not linear
Young professionals consistently rank career progression as a top motivator for them. But our research shows just 28% of MGAs offer structured career paths with upward mobility.
MGAs inherently operate differently from more traditional insurance organizations, and many don't get into the niche because they expect to see a steady, straight line of advancement in their career. MGAs don't need to mimic the rigid org charts of large carriers, but MGA leaders would do themselves a favor by showing there are opportunities for career advancement, even if it involves inventing a career path.
Fund professional development, make career advancement opportunities clear, and be transparent about your succession plans for roles. Making those pieces visible can help recruit talent that is attracted to the fast pace and growth unique to MGAs.
Integrated technology is a secret weapon
For MGAs, technology is part of the employee experience and needs to be part of the growth model.
Younger and mid-career employees prioritize working with modern tools that streamline their work. They're used to working in browser-based software and using tech that doesn't require a training video to learn how to use it. They want technology that syncs across systems and doesn't require a manual handoff to connect digital workflows.
For MGAs, that technological connective tissue helps solve many of the other workforce challenges. Integrated technology can reduce dependence on senior staff knowledge by making information easier to find, workflows easier to follow, and handoffs easier to manage.
It helps newer employees see more of the context around a submission, a relationship, or a task without constantly relying on senior staff to fill in the gaps. It also helps teams move faster, making it easier to launch new products and compete for business.
To attract the next generation of MGA talent in 2026, leaders can treat workforce strategy as a growth priority by preparing for generational transition, offering clearer career paths, and investing in modern, integrated technology.
When systems are connected, MGAs can reduce dependence on senior staff knowledge, make workflows easier to follow, and give newer employees the context they need to contribute faster. That helps lean teams build resilience, launch new products, and compete more effectively for business.
