Tim Quayle, CEO: OneAdvent: What makes an MGA succeed? (362)

What does it take to build an MGA that not only launches but lasts?

Tim Quayle has spent the past decade answering that question, not in theory, but in practice. As CEO of OneAdvent, a London-based MGA incubator and service platform, he’s helped launch and scale more than 15 underwriting businesses and seen plenty more that didn’t make it.

In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks to Tim about the real ingredients of MGA success. Not the glossy pitch-deck version, but the messy, pragmatic reality: why experience matters, what investors are really looking for, and how the market has matured in the last ten years since the “InsurTech” label first emerged.

In this conversation, Tim shares:

• Why most early-stage MGAs underestimate how long things take and how much they’ll cost
• What’s changed in capacity and investment appetite, and why “grown-up plans” are now a must
• The risk of pushing too hard, too fast and how to preserve credibility with stakeholders
• Why deep insurance experience still outweighs tech fluency in this market
• The myth of radical disruption and why incremental improvement is the better bet
• How OneAdvent is investing in AI and data to better support underwriting teams across its platform

We also explore broader themes: the shifting dynamics between MGAs and capacity providers, the evolution of embedded insurance, and why many promising innovations still struggle to gain traction in such a regulated, relationship-driven industry.

You can join Tim Quayle in person at our upcoming MGA Half Day event on July 15th. Tim will be moderating a panel on the key ingredients for a winning MGA, alongside Adam Kembrooke, Founder and Managing Director, Amiga Specialty, Jacqui Ferrier, CEO, Carbon Underwriting and Tomos Ashfield, Chief Development Officer, The Ardonagh Group. 

With only a few tickets left, sign up now to be able to join us for what is shaping up to be the biggest UK gathering focused entirely on the delegated authority market this year.

If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.

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Continuing Professional Development

This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme.

By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives:

• Explain why radical disruption often fails in insurance, and how incremental innovation leads to sustainable business growth.
• List the core capabilities MGAs need to present a “grown-up” proposition to capacity providers and investors.
• Identify the key components of a data-driven MGA operating model and how platforms like OneAdvent’s OneView can support underwriting performance.

If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 362 page of the InsTech website or email [e-mail] to let us know you have listened to this podcast.

To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.