Where Intact is looking to consolidate distribution channels

Intact Financial Corporation (IFC) continues to see opportunities in the distribution consolidation space, particularly with its subsidiaries BrokerLink and On Side Restoration, but also with the MGA channel in North America, senior executives say during the insurer’s 2025 Q2 earnings call Wednesday.

BrokerLink remains on track to hit $5 billion in premium before the end of the year, says IFC chief financial officer Ken Anderson during the call.

BrokerLink president Joe D’Annunzio told Canadian Underwriter in April 2024 that the brokerage’s goal was to reach $5 billion in direct premiums written (DPW) by the end of 2025. That means BrokerLink will have increased its premiums by more than $1 billion in about a year-and-a-half, as the brokerage surpassed $3.5 billion in DPW in 2023.

In the second quarter of 2025, Intact saw $165 million in distribution income, down 2% from $169 million in 2024 Q2. However, for the first half of 2025, distribution income rose 5% to $282 million from $269 million in 2024 H1.

“I would say consolidation of distribution continued at pace in the first six months,” Anderson says. “BrokerLink closed 13 transactions with north of $300 million of premium…”

Tempered earnings

That said, earnings were tempered in a few segments, for example MGAs in the U.S., which Anderson says are operating in a competitive environment.

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As for On Side Restoration, Intact likes the “counter cyclical attributes of that business,” he adds, referring to a business that moves in the opposite direction of the economy. “Margins are improving there, but obviously with benign Cat levels, that’s meant a little less revenue for On Side.”

In the last year, Intact has generated more than $500 million of distribution income, compounded at 20% over the last five years.

“So, we still see a lot of opportunities in distribution…particularly the continued consolidation at BrokerLink, but also in MGA space in North America,” Anderson says. “We would expect to quickly return to that objective of 10% growth.

“And in fact, if we look at where we stand right now in relation to the third quarter, we’d expect to be back in line with that objective.”

Related: Why Intact is seeing increased Cat loss ratios

IFC CEO Charles Brindamour says he remains bullish about the insurer’s distribution growth profile.

“There are a number of things that give me confidence about the trajectory that Ken is talking about,” he adds during the earnings call.

The first is that Brindamour sees “margin improvement opportunities” in Intact’s distribution footprint, including On Side.

Second, consolidation in distribution remains a big source of growth for Intact.

“I’d say this year…the competitive environment is better than it was a year ago in terms of who we’re competing with to consolidate distribution,” Brindamour says. “BrokerLink has been probably the most active consolidator in the first part of the year, and the pipeline is really, really solid.”

Finally, Brindamour reports Intact is “building an organic growth muscle with the digital channel” in its subsidiaries — “BrokerLink first and then On Side had a lot of room to grow.

“It can be choppy from quarter to quarter, but the [growth] trajectory is north of 10% there,” he says. “We’ve got good visibility on that.”

Jason Contant

Jason has been an award-winning journalist with Canadian Underwriter for more than a decade, including the past three years as associate editor and, before that, as digital editor for seven years.