MGAA appoints Mike Keating of Qlaims as new MD

Qlaims chief development officer Mike Keating has been lined up to take over from Peter Staddon as managing director of the Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA).

Keating (pictured) will assume the role on 8 September. Staddon, who is retiring in August, will continue to work at the MGAA on a part-time basis until Keating joins to ensure an orderly handover.

In his new role, Keating will be responsible for the continuing growth of the MGAA’s membership and increasing the levels of engagement with insurers and brokers.

He will also be focused on ensuring the needs of MGAs are understood and being met with a broader range of membership benefits to support their growth.

Keating joins from Qlaims, where he was chief development officer. During his near 30-year career in the insurance industry, he has held senior leadership roles in a number of personal and commercial lines MGA businesses, including UK General and One Commercial (part of Primary Group).

He is also a former managing director of intermediary and partnerships at AXA Personal Lines. While working at UK General, Keating served as an MGAA board member.

Charles Manchester, chair of the MGAA, said: “Mike’s understanding of the operational challenges MGAs face in building and sustaining a business in today’s market will be of real benefit to our members.”

“The speciality lines sector faces capacity challenges, a continual hardening of the rating environment and the impact of Covid-19. 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.”

Commenting on his appointment, Keating said: “I’m delighted to be joining the association at a time when the industry looks to tackle the challenges which were prevalent before the Covid-19 crisis and those which have emerged over the last three months. 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.”

“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.”

Mark Dugdale