What we heard on the floor at the TMPAA Target Markets — and what it means for carriers, MGAs, and the next wave of program builders.

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Last week, Stere's Head of North America, Tobel Thomas, attended the Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) event — the gathering point for the program business and one of the clearest barometers of where the specialty market is actually heading. Across three days of meetings with current Stere clients and select prospects, a consistent picture emerged. The insurtech landscape is maturing — fast, and in some genuinely exciting ways. Below are the four signals that came through loudest from the TMPAA floor, and what Stere believes they mean for the road ahead.

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01    MOST INDUSTRY-DEFINING

The MGA Era is here and still boosting.

The center of gravity has shifted. Where the industry was traditionally carrier-led, MGAs are now the primary engines of innovation and specialized underwriting in the E&S and specialty markets. They are setting appetite. They are shaping products. They are leading conversations about how risk gets placed. Encouragingly, this is not a power struggle — it is an evolution that is working for both sides. Carriers are increasingly empowering high-performing MGAs to lead in niche markets where speed and specialization matter most, and the results are reshaping how risk is placed across the program business.

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02    MOST ACTIONABLE

Collaboration beats competition among insurtechs.

Carriers and MGAs are fielding pitches from more insurtechs than ever — and the noise is real. Buyers are tired of stitching point solutions together themselves. The "build everything yourself" mentality is becoming a relic; on the seller side, the equivalent relic is "sell everything yourself." The smarter play is for insurtechs to work together. When one provider excels at submission intake and another leads in claims AI, the right answer is to partner up and walk in as a unified solution. One cohesive pitch beats three fragmented ones every single time. The winners in this market will be the providers who collaborate rather than compete — who respect the customer's time and solve the workflow, not just a feature.

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03    MOST FORWARD-LOOKING

New entrants are redefining the MGA landscape.

Some of the most interesting MGA momentum at Target Markets did not come from traditional insurance circles. Retail brokers are launching their own programs. Operators from adjacent industries — logistics, real estate, healthcare, mobility — are entering the space with deep distribution networks and vertical-specific expertise that legacy carriers simply do not have. Backed by AI and modern tech stacks, these new players are bypassing legacy hurdles and arriving in the market tech-forward by default. Paired with the right capital and capacity, this new wave of founders will be a force to watch over the next 24 months.

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04    TIMELESS & ESSENTIAL

High-tech still requires high-touch.

For all the technology transforming our industry — and despite a year in which AI conversations dominated nearly every booth — one thing remains constant: this is a relationship-driven business. Trust is the ultimate currency, and in a market this tight-knit, reputation travels fast. Winning deals is not just about having the best algorithm or the slickest demo. It is about the integrity of the partnership and the long-term confidence built between people. The strongest deals are still forged over time — not just delivered on a slide.

THE STERE PERSPECTIVE

Building the engine for an MGA-centric future.

These four signals point in the same direction: the industry is moving toward a more collaborative, MGA-centric, technology-native future. Stere is proud to be the engine behind that shift — helping MGAs launch in weeks, not years, and integrate the right tech at the right time across distribution, underwriting, and claims. If you were at Target Markets and want to compare notes — or if you are a carrier, MGA, or insurtech thinking about how to navigate what comes next — the Stere team would welcome the conversation.

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Stere is the API- and AI-enabled insurance Platform-as-a-Service powering the next generation of MGAs and carriers — from product launch to multi-channel distribution, including agentic commerce. Learn more at stere.io.

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