MGA Carisma nails down its reinsurers

Baden-Baden isn’t just for launching the negotiations that will lead you to your 1/1 renewals. Baden-Baden Today found one startup managing general agent (MGA) that moved from its launch party in Dublin on Monday night, to a series of meetings in Germany on Tuesday and Wednesday that could put its full reinsurance programme in place by the time delegates head home.

First-time Baden-Baden attendee Eoin Reynolds, chief underwriting officer for newly formed fleet services and mobility MGA Carisma, will wave the flag for his startup at its first foray into Baden-Baden.

Carisma, a newly licensed MGA, is gearing up for its entry in the European non-life insurance and reinsurance market. It specialises in third-party liability (TPL), with a particular focus on the automotive and mobility sectors.

Reynolds hopes to take an abbreviated two-day meeting schedule and turn it into a complete programme.

“Today and tomorrow are about reaffirming the level of support with certain parties that are interested in helping us finish,” Reynolds said. “We are looking to finish off the final portions of our excess-of-loss and quota share today and tomorrow for launch.”

Reynolds claimed to have six deals already nailed down before arriving in Baden-Baden. Talks with reinsurers to date have sealed support from six names, from the market’s largest names to a few of the more nimble, mid-sized players and even one or two smaller houses.

Not his first rodeo

It’s Reynolds’ first Baden, but not his first startup. Carisma is the third MGA startup of the past 25 years of Reynolds’ career, all dedicated to the motor industry. The first was ultimately sold to Zurich, and more recently passed to Howden. A second launch with more of a retail motor twist eventually went to Arch Capital.

“It’s our agility, our subject-matter expertise at a very in-depth market level.”

It’s also not his first attempt at placing a programme in what is a challenging automotive market, with US casualty in transport-related sectors deep in the throes of social inflation, which is causing spillover problems in Europe.

“We engaged with more than 50 reinsurers in terms of trying to gauge interest, because motor-related lines or motor casualty is quite a challenging line,” he said.

“Negotiations might be more challenging because we are a new MGA, but the MGA format can just as easily bring benefits to reinsurance negotiations,” he said. “It’s our agility, our subject-matter expertise at a very in-depth market level.”

The word MGA can spell focus or core competence to reinsurer partners. “Between the team, I don’t think there are any countries in Europe that we don’t have experience in at writing motor,” he said.

And startup need not mean anything less than full-service, Reynolds claimed. Carisma will do some agreements with claims third party administrators but patch together networks of partners where possible to tailor to each territory.

Carisma had previously said it plans to start trading in Spain in the fourth quarter of 2024, with Ireland, Romania, and France to follow soon after. A five-year plan would have the MGA insuring 300,000 vehicles across the EU, its CEO has previously indicated.

While major banking and finance groups already provide fleet risk management, Carisma aims to fill gaps for smaller boutique finance companies and carmakers that are lacking such solutions.

For more news from Baden-Baden Today, click here.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.