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Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East, part of MNK Group and a sister concern of Specialty MGA UK, has announced the appointment of two new senior underwriters as it strengthens its team in Casablanca.

Laila El Bahtouri has been appointed as the new Treaty Senior Underwriter, while Mohamed Bader Bouanani has been named as Senior Underwriter for Specialty Lines. Both will be in charge of the Africa and Middle East regions.

Laila El Bahtouri, based in the MGA’s Casablanca office, is an Actuary Fellow of the French Institute of Actuaries with 19 years of experience, including 14 years in the reinsurance business. She will drive Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East’s growth in P&C reinsurance markets, developing a balanced portfolio of specialist lines as she prioritises meeting client objectives.

Most recently, she worked at Moroccan National reinsurer SCR, spending five years as Executive Head of Domestic and African P&C Treaties. In this role she developed a deep understanding of the Moroccan and African markets. Before that, she worked more than eight years at SCOR Paris, where she occupied many positions, including Pricing Manager for the Middle East.

Mohamed Bader Bouanani will be responsible for driving Specialty MGA’s growth in specialty lines of business, and expanding its market presence in Africa and the Middle East. He holds an MBA from Texas Tech University in the US, and is an experienced underwriting professional, with a proven track record of more than 15 years in the reinsurance industry. He has held various leadership roles, most recently as Head of Specialty Lines at SCR.

Laila El Bahtouri, Treaty Senior Underwriter at Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East, said:

“African markets are ready for entrants that can provide new ideas, and Specialty MGA’s combination of local knowledge with international reach and expertise means it is in a great position to fill that gap. Our flexibility means that we can find quickly solutions that meet clients’ expectations.”

“The team is building an agile MGA that can respond rapidly to clients’ needs, and I’m excited to help them create new products and grow market share.”

Mohamed Bader Bouanani, Senior Underwriter for Specialty Lines at Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East, said:

“Specialty MGA is building a very strong team in Africa and the Middle East, and I’m excited to be able to work with the group and our clients to close the region’s coverage gap in specialty insurance.”

“As markets, Africa and the Middle East are increasingly dynamic and fast growing, meaning that there is plenty of opportunity for those that can transcend traditional boundaries.”

Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East was launched by CEO Youssef Fassi Fihri in September last year. Headquartered in London, it acts as a bridge between local markets and the London Market, offering specific solutions for the African and Middle Eastern markets.

Youssef Fassi Fihri, CEO at Specialty MGA Africa & Middle East, said:

“Laila and Mohamed are excellent additions to our team in Casablanca, and these appointments will further enhance our ability to offer brokers access to outstanding underwriting professionals. They have significant experience not just in the Moroccan market, but in insurance markets across Africa and the Middle East, and will play an important role as we expand our presence in the region.”

Manoj Kumar, MNK Group Chairman, said:

“MNK Group’s strength is that we are a diverse set of businesses that combine both international reach and regional expertise. Youssef is building an exciting team in Casablanca, which can provide market-leading solutions that unlock capacity in emerging markets.”

Managing general agents (MGAs) offer insurers competitive prices, which can put downward pressure on premiums, while also helping insurance companies access new markets and diversify risks, Specialty MGA Africa and Middle East’s Mr Youssef Fassi Fihri said. At the same time, he said that MGAs provide global reinsurers an efficient, low-risk method for accessing the Middle Eastern market.

As managing general agents (MGAs) “act as an extension of the insurer”, they can provide underwriting services and policy administration, Specialty MGA Africa and Middle East CEO Youssef Fassi Fihri told Middle East Insurance Review. In comparison, he said that brokers act on behalf of clients to negotiate the best insurance policies.

He said, “MGAs can therefore assess the quality of the risk and premium on behalf of their binder, while brokers advise their clients on how to achieve optimum protection.”

He also noted that while brokers presently dominate the market in the Middle East, MGAs are on the rise, particularly within niche sectors and takaful.

According to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), over the years, reinsurers increasingly participated in the creation of MGAs, resulting in agencies accounting for 43% of (re) insurance players in 2023.

Said Mr Fassi Fihri, “Many MGAs based at the DIFC are increasingly successful at dealing in cross-border risks, as DIFC’s passporting arrangements allow them to underwrite risks across the Middle
East.”

Trends and prospects

Over the past years, regulators such as the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) have been introducing frameworks to facilitate and govern MGAS, increasing licences and ensuring better compliance, Mr Fassi Fihri noted.

For instance, Rokstone Dubai, an MGA, had to first secure a regulatory licence from the DFSA before opening for business.

“MGAs in the region have (also) been enhancing their relationships with global reinsurers to maximise capacity,” he said.

“Lloyd’s of London for example, have been actively engaging with Middle Eastern MGAs, highlighting the growing global confidence in the region.”

With consumers and businesses increasingly demanding shariah-compliant insurance products, takaful is seeing rapid growth in the region as well, he noted. As countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain are expanding in this segment, MGAs are also playing an essential role in distributing these products, he said.

“Regulatory bodies such as SAMA and the UAE Insurance Authority are providing incentives for takaful expansion, and MGAs have been introducing hybrid models, combining traditional insurance and takaful, to accommodate different customer needs,” he said.

Successful business models

“The most successful MGAs will combine deep regional expertise with access to global reinsurance capacity,” Mr Fassi Fihri said in response to a question on what some of the most effective business models among MGAs in the Middle East were.

He said, “Both are necessary if MGAs want to underwrite large and complex risks, which require localised knowledge and high-security-rated capacity.”

For instance, he noted underwriters with Specialty MGA Africa and Middle East were based in Casablanca and Dubai, in addition to London, and knew their local markets well. At the same time, he pointed out that the
underwriters also had support from the wider international team.

Opportunities and challenges

When asked what some challenges MGAs in the Middle East faced, Mr Fassi Fihri said, “Consumers in the Middle East continuously expect to have quicker solutions and seamless digital experiences. To develop these capabilities, MGAs must invest significantly in their technology and infrastructure, which may be a challenge for many given their limited capital.”

On the flip side, he noted that governments in the region are supporting InsurTech adoption by investing in start-ups in the sector and providing incentives for innovation.

He said that this gives “opportunities for MGAs to partner with InsurTech businesses to enhance their digital capabilities and offer this to customers.”

Working with (re)insurers

According to Mr Fassi Fihri, “the traditional insurance industry has already started to react to the growth of MGAs, which can be very competitive on price and put a downward pressure on premiums”.

He said, “Many insurers are allocating growing shares of their capacity to MGA partnerships, which can help them access new markets and diversify their risk.”

In the long term, he expects MGAs to lead in “niche, underserved markets, with larger, more established reinsurers providing balance sheet support” as well.

This is because he believes MGAs offer global reinsurers an efficient, low-risk method for accessing the Middle Eastern market.

“They make excellent partners as they are agile and innovative, introducing new ways of working and reducing claims settlement times,” he said, noting MGAs often acted as bridges between carriers looking to diversify and businesses whose risk profiles could not be supported by domestic insurance markets alone.

The future

When asked what trends and prospects he could foresee among MGAs in the Middle East over the coming year, he said that he expected agencies to focus on tools like parametrics.

“The floods in Dubai last year showed that significant coverage gaps remain, and parametrics are perfect for covering this kind of risk, and for making claims more efficient,” he said, also noting that his company has had
success with similar products.

Said Mr Fassi Fihri, “I expect parametric solutions will only grow in popularity and be a part of the development of national coverage against CAT risks to improve resilience.”

This article first appeared in the April 2025 edition of the Middle East Insurance Review

Collaboration is growing between MGAs and InsurTech firms in Asia, particularly in the cyber insurance space, MNK Group’s Mr Manoj Kumar said to Asia Insurance Review. This plays into the ability of MGAs to offer specialised products for specific industries and risks.

Managing general agents (MGAs) are able to “provide faster turnaround times for clients”, as there is no need to go back and forth with insurers for underwriting decisions, unlike brokers, according to MNK Group chairman Manoj Kumar.

This is because MGAs are agencies that have been “delegated underwriting authority under the terms of a binding authority agreement from (re)insurers, meaning they can underwrite and manage policies without waiting for an insurer’s decision”, he told Asia Insurance Review.

“As a result, unlike brokers who shop for standard policies and/or support from reinsurers, MGAs can customise coverage based on the specific and bespoke needs of their clients,” he said.

“Furthermore, MGAs can specialise in niche or high-risk sectors, where standard insurers and brokers may lack expertise and struggle to find coverage.”

MGAs in Asia

Over the past year, Mr Kumar has observed an increase in MGA activity in Asia, as activities continue expanding out of crucial markets in the US and the UK.

And although many countries in Asia have regulations covering the MGA model, he believes Lloyd’s has nevertheless engaged with regulators in the continent to discuss how coverholders in the UK market are regulated, promoting the adoption of similar models in the region.

“In addition, Labuan, Malaysia, has not only solidified its position as a leading captive centre in Asia but has become an attractive place for MGAs to form and grow over the last year. Labuan operates within a clear and comprehensive legal framework, enforced by one regulator, the Labuan Financial Services Authority,” he said.

“This has provided MGAs with a predictable and stable environment, making it easier for these groups to do business.”

Mr Kumar has called the jurisdiction’s regulatory framework “positive” as well, saying that the dynamic and developing market has allowed his company to maximise growth and offer products to clients across Asia and the rest of the world.

He also noted that the Hong Kong and Australian MGA spaces were heating up as well.

The market is growing too in other parts of Asia Pacific. For instance, Global Insurance Law Connect’s report published in October 2024, “Innovation abounds opportunities for growth in the global MGA market”, found that MGAs were gaining ground in financial centres such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, in China.

The report noted increased MGA innovation in insuring uninsurable homes due to climate change crucial. The report said, “Specialist flood risk mitigation products and new parametric covers are being brought to market under MGA cover, supporting initial efforts to resolve this emerging property insurance challenge.”

Some advantages

As MGAs in Asia are often more specialised and agile than larger insurers, Mr Kumar believes the former are able to focus on niche markets and hard-to-place risks that more traditional firms struggle to access.

“Those that offer specialised products for specific industries and risks are doing well,” he said, noting that over the past year clients have reaped the benefits of being able to talk to experts about innovative solutions to unique and niche risks.

One reason for this, Mr Kumar said, was hiring practices that targeted people with “deep knowledge and expertise in particular sectors”.

An emerging trend

When asked to name some emerging trends surrounding MGAs in Asia, Mr Kumar was quick to point out the rising collaboration between agencies and InsurTech firms, particularly in cyber insurance. He said, “With an increase in cyber crime across Asia over the last year, MGAs have worked with InsurTech firms to develop specialised cyber insurance solutions, including AI-powered risk assessment tools to adjust coverage based on a company’s digital footprint.” 

Opportunities and challenges

According to Mr Kumar, one of the larger challenges facing MGAs in the region was the “fractured regulatory landscape across Asia, with each country having its own licensing requirements and compliance obligations”.

“Whilst some areas like Singapore and Hong Kong have clear regulatory frameworks, others have more evolving policies,” he said.

“Coupled with this, numerous Asian regulators require MGAs to have minimum capital and solvency margins similar to traditional insurers, (which is) particularly challenging for newer MGAs.”

As a result, Mr Kumar believes it’s important for MGAs to have localised compliance teams, in order to keep track of local regulations.

Collaborating with (re)insurers to gain financial backing can help new MGAs in Asia enter the competitive market as well, he said.

Opportunity for the traditional insurance industry

Said Mr Kumar, “MGAs in Asia have acted as both a challenger and partner to the traditional insurance industry. This is positive for clients, insurers and the overall health of the Asian market.”

When asked what some short- and long-term implications were for the traditional insurance industry, he highlighted lower overheads among MGAs, which means they can often challenge larger competitors on price in the short term.

Despite this, Mr Kumar believes traditional insurers could turn this challenge into an opportunity by seizing the chance to innovate and improve offerings. “In the longer term, by helping insurers to access new markets and industries, MGAs also offer growth opportunities,” he said.

In short, according to Mr Kumar, a reward insurers may gain if they successfully partner with an MGA is “greater reach, an enhanced and more innovative product offering and streamlined operations that save on costs”.
To do so, he recommended that insurers choose MGAs with a strong team of professionals, deep expertise in their respective sectors and significant experience in the Asian market.

The future

As insurance markets in Asia will continue to be significantly disrupted by the adoption of AI for tasks such as data analysis, MGAs will also increasingly use technology to drive underwriting decisions and enhance customer service. As a result, according to Mr Kumar, “they will need to balance the potential of these technologies against the heightened regulatory risk they present”.

This article first appeared in the April 2025 edition of the Asia Insurance Review

MNK Group has entered a new phase of growth with the launch of its unified brand, which integrates its broking, MGA, and risk-taking entities to ensure a consistent customer experience. The new group website (groupmnk.com) connects all underlying entities across the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East.

The Group’s specialist brands include MNK International, a Lloyd’s broker formerly known as MNK Re, which provides reinsurance support to clients in over 130 countries from multiple global offices. The new brand also encompasses Specialty MGA, a network of MGAs with offices in London, Milan, Casablanca, and Texas, offering capacity for specialty lines of business and hard-to-place risks.

MNK Seguros, an insurer based in San Jose, Costa Rica, along with Mekong Re, a facultative and treaty reinsurance company in Labuan, Malaysia, and Florida Re, a property and casualty insurance and reinsurance company in Florida, also form part of the Group. With businesses in fast-growing and dynamic markets worldwide, the new brand represents the next step in consolidating MNK Group’s growth, with numerous innovative products in the pipeline to support their global clients.

MNK Group plans to continue its growth through organic means as well as through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Several M&A deals involving broking and insurance carriers are in the pipeline and will be announced soon.

Commenting on the new brand, Chairman of MNK Group, Manoj Kumar, said: “The launch of our new brand represents MNK Group’s rapid growth in recent years, providing a breadth of services to clients across all sectors.

“As we move forward together, our businesses are unified in terms of quality of service and in providing tailored and innovative solutions to meet the unique needs of every client, agent, broker, or underwriter. With our businesses based across the globe, our new brand represents our global vision and our desire to expand further.”

“This year, more businesses are set to be launched under the MNK family as we continue to navigate evolving markets and grow our presence worldwide.”

The brand will be launched at MNK Group’s annual industry event at The Sky Garden on Thursday, April 3rd.

Specialty MGA UK has hired Amir Hussain as Head of Political and Credit Risk, as it opens a new business line and looks to become a key player in the political risk market.

Hussain has worked as a credit analyst at Barclays, as well as underwriting for Lloyd’s syndicates including Brit and Hamilton. He specialises in political risk, contract frustration and credit risk, and has experience of building from scratch and managing a global book of business.

Initially, he will be focused on reaching out to the market and underwriting a sound book of business. However, over time Hussain and Specialty MGA UK will look to grow the team and increase the capacity they bring to the market.

Welcoming him to the team, MNK Group Chairman Manoj Kumar said:

“Amir’s background of rapidly developing business in international political risk means he is a fantastic addition to the team. Now is the right time for us to enter the market, given that there are global opportunities as demand for cover continues to rise.”

Amir Hussain, Head of Political and Credit Risk at Speciality MGA UK, said:

“Building a new line of business requires entrepreneurialism, energy and dedication and I have always enjoyed the challenge it presents. I’m excited to work with Manoj and the rest of the team, as this is a great opportunity to bring new capacity to the market and make political risk a significant part of Specialty MGA’s offering.”

Specialty MGA UK, the managing general agent that specialises in providing additional capacity for specialty lines of business, has expanded its energy team with a pair of new underwriters.

Alex Rowe and Savita Patel, who have been hired as Senior Underwriters for Energy, bring experience of working in Africa, the Middle East, North America and Europe.

With Alex and Savita joining Specialty MGA, the expansion of the Energy offering will allow the MGA to offer more expertise to the market, and drive new business as the team utilises its global network of brokers. The new underwriters will be supported by moves to open up additional capacity for clients, allowing them to grow Specialty’s energy book sustainably.

Welcoming the team to Specialty MGA UK, Group Chairman Manoj Kumar said:

“Our growth story so far has been excellent, and now is the right time to be investing in our team and expanding our reach even further. We need to make sure we’re being proactive in the market to deliver growth, and this team will help us to do that.”

Rowe joins Specialty MGA UK from Travelers, and specialises in upstream and midstream energy. With more than 25 years of experience in the market, he brings a global network of clients and brokers, with a particular focus on the US, Europe and Africa.

Patel has more than 25 years’ experience of managing a global portfolio of business, across downstream energy, mining, onshore power, and renewables. She joins from Ocean Re, where she served as Head of Energy, and previously spent a decade as an energy underwriter at Swiss Re. Additionally, she has experience as an energy risk consultant in Africa.

Alex Rowe, Senior Underwriter for Energy said:

“Specialty MGA UK’s recent growth shows that the market is keen to work with us, and is responsive to the credibility and flexibility that we offer. Specialty’s approach to risk, which finds ways to collaborate and find solutions to challenging risks, will help us to keep growing, and I’m looking forward to engaging with brokers on how we can support them.”

Savita Patel, Senior Underwriter for Energy, said:

“This is an exciting time to join Specialty MGA UK, and I am confident that we are well-positioned to sustain our rapid growth in the energy market. As the market softens, competition will intensify over the next year. I look forward to collaborating and developing solutions for complex challenges and engaging with brokers to explore how we can best support them.”Find out more about Specialty MGA’s energy expertise.