Amwins' Stallmann: Cultural fit and technology key in MGA acquisitions

By Isha Marathe

June 5 - (The Insurer) - Cultural fit is key for Amwins when identifying acquisition targets to add to its MGA and programs platform, along with factors such as underwriting results and carrier relationships, said the company's executive vice president and head of M&A Chris Stallmann.

"As an institution and a company, we don't bid on that many assets," Stallman said during an M&A panel at the Program Manager Conference 2025 in New York last week.

"In the program space, we spend a lot of time on underwriting results. We like growth. We like stable growth. We like growing businesses, but we want sustainable growing businesses."

For Amwins, partnering with principals who are willing to stay with the company for the long haul and are the right cultural fit is often the acquisition clincher, he said.

"When we find (an asset) that fits those three criteria (and) something is incredibly interesting … we're going to be very aggressive and try to figure out a way to win it," he said.

Stallmann said that in addition to the these criteria, Amwins values innovative tools and strong tech stacks that may be complementary to its own.

"We've got a lot of in-house tools that we've built and developed over time. So when we talk to potential partners, we are wondering, what do they have? What's something that the overall organisation could benefit from, or what is something we can bring to bear?" he said.

PRIVATE EQUITY AS A DRIVER OF M&A

The panel also discussed how the influx of private equity is driving acquisitions in the insurance distribution space.

But with an eventual shake-out inevitable, a single failure carries the risk of painting private equity with a broad – and negative – brush, said Chris Treanor, president of programs and specialties at Hub International.

"PE love(s) insurance distribution. It's great, it's sticky, it's got a great return," he said.

As recently as 2015, the space had "the same four or five" private equity-backed buyers involved in most deals. Now, "on any given Sunday, you can see 30 (or) 40" such buyers.

Stallmann said that private capital elevates the space and reminds investors that MGAs are a lucrative and valuable area to finance.

However, every private equity-backed structure is not created equal, and even with the inherent time-holds that come with such deals, Stallman said Amwins is focused on selecting the right partners to ensure that they are able to facilitate long-term relationships.

The popularity of assets in the sector among private equity investors may come with a catch, Treanor said.

"(And) the new guys coming in don't necessarily understand (the industry), so they're just saying, 'Oh, anybody can do this. This is easy.' So they go buy a platform, staff it with whoever, and then they just get in the market."

While this spate of acquisitions creates noise, Treanor said his team worries about what may happen if "one of them implodes (or) deflates".

As a private equity-backed entity, Hub depends on the interest of capital markets in its structure, and while it is popular and generating returns at the moment, any failure in the sector could have negative consequences for other market participants, he said.

"Because at some point, there is going to be a shake-out, and at that point, does everybody pull back?

"Does that have a negative knock-on effect on the rest of us who are disciplined, who have a great track record and all the rest?" Treanor said.