Barry O'Dwyer's Irish Broker Interview

Barry O'Dwyer chats 10 years of DUAL in Ireland with the Irish Broker Magazine

What inspired you to start DUAL here in Ireland 10 years ago? 

My first two working decades were spent within large, traditional insurance companies, where I was fortunate to receive an exceptional grounding in underwriting, strategy, leadership, and the wider dynamics of the insurance market. Those formative years gave me a real appreciation and understanding for the fundamentals of our industry, with brokers and customers at the centre of everything we do. As my career progressed, I became increasingly drawn to the dynamism and entrepreneurial energy of the MGA sector. 

Conversations with a number of London connections opened my eyes to the potential of a different type of insurance proposition in Ireland. One that combined underwriting expertise with agility, innovation, and a genuine appetite to do things differently. The MGA model generally, and DUAL specifically, was clearly gaining momentum internationally, and it was becoming evident that Ireland was ready for this fresh approach.

When the opportunity arose to establish DUAL in Ireland, it felt like exactly the right moment. With DUAL’s entrepreneurial culture and a clear market opportunity for an agile underwriting business, the opportunity was simply too strong to ignore. 

It was an opportunity to bring global expertise into a local market, create a business with a distinct personality, and build a team that shared a common vision. 10 years on, that decision remains the most rewarding of my career.

How has the business evolved over the past 10 years in terms of products, people, and broker partnerships? 

The past 10 years have been transformative for the MGA sector, both globally and within the Irish market. MGAs were once a niche segment. Today, they are a core part of insurer distribution strategies, valued for their expertise, agility, and focused underwriting solutions. Against this backdrop, DUAL’s own evolution, both in Ireland and internationally, has been remarkable.

From a product perspective, we have broadened and deepened our underwriting capabilities, responding to increasing market appetite for more specialised cover and more tailored solutions. This product evolution has been driven not only by market need but by our commitment to staying close to our brokers, adapting quickly as risks and customer expectations change.       

As well as evolving and growing our well-established High Net Worth (HNW) homeowners, fine art and motor products, DUAL has also created and built a highly regarded proposition in the Legal and Title Indemnity market. These success stories, coupled with our fast-growing PI and Cyber businesses, have delivered for DUAL a terrific and solid platform for our significant growth ambitions.

Our key ingredient of success is of course our people. The calibre of talent we attract, across underwriting, operations, finance and marketing, reflects the growing maturity of DUAL’s business. DUAL is a sophisticated, data enabled business, and our ability to engage this talent has strengthened both our technical capabilities and the service we deliver to our brokers. This culminated in DUAL Ireland being accredited as a Great Place to Work. 

Our broker and insurer partnerships have also deepened considerably over the last 10 years. Brokers increasingly value the efficiency, speed, flexibility and product innovation that DUAL brings. We see this evidenced in our consistently high retention rates, as well as the overwhelmingly positive feedback received at our recent nationwide broker roadshows. Our insurance partners in turn see DUAL as a strategic route to sustainable, diversified and profitable growth. The partnership model has matured into a genuine ecosystem.

As Managing Director, what are your key priorities for DUAL in Ireland? 

As we mark DUAL’s 10th anniversary in the Irish market, my priorities as MD centre on deepening our partnerships, and ensuring the foundations of our business remain robust, relevant, and aligned with the evolving needs of our brokers and clients.

A major focus for the year ahead is our new partnership with Hiscox in the HNW segment. Together, our objective is to become the clear market leader in HNW insurance in Ireland. Under this partnership, DUAL will manage the day-to-day operations, underwriting, and servicing of the combined HNW portfolio, while Hiscox will provide capacity and technical oversight. This collaboration allows us to deliver an enhanced proposition to our brokers and to create even greater value to their clients.

More broadly, my priority is to continue evolving and executing our strategy focused on DUAL’s key stakeholders: our broker and insurer partners, customers, and our people. This means advancing our product capability, elevating service standards, and fostering innovation that genuinely supports our brokers’ needs.

Equally important is managing the myriad demands to deliver regulatory resilience, capacity strength, technology investment, distribution relevance, and talent. Regulatory excellence is not simply a requirement - it is a competitive advantage. Our A rated capacity partners rely on us for profitable underwriting and high-quality data, and our technology strategy reflects this: automation, structured data, API connectivity, and operational efficiency are essential in a margin pressured environment. 

With broker consolidation accelerating, DUAL must clearly articulate our value: specialist expertise, fast and flexible underwriting, consistent service, and a commitment to education and thought leadership, delivered through genuine broker partnerships. 

How important are brokers to your business? 

Brokers are central to DUAL’s success and have been from the moment we began 10 years ago, throughout our journey so far, and they will be key in shaping our future. In many ways, our story in Ireland is a story built alongside the broker community. I still vividly remember my first day launching DUAL here: no brokers, no customers, no policies, and no guaranteed pipeline of business. However, I had a deep belief that if we could earn the trust of the many broker partners and friends I had worked with over the years, we could build something meaningful together.

That belief proved well-founded. From the moment we bound our very first policy - one we are proud to say remains on our books 10 years later - the momentum grew. The support, feedback, and partnership of brokers across the country have has been instrumental in shaping who we are today. They have not only placed business with us; they have helped us refine our products, evolve our service model, and establish the strong, credible reputation that DUAL now holds in the Irish market.

Our brokers keep us grounded, their challenges keep us sharp, and their trust keeps us growing. As we look ahead to the next 10 years, deepening these relationships remains one of my highest priorities. 

What do you see as the main challenges/opportunities facing Brokers today? 

A tough question. As an industry, we should recognise the professionalism and vital socio-economic role insurance plays in Ireland. And I see some key opportunities and challenges that all of us, brokers and insurers, need to embrace to help us successfully navigate our businesses in the coming months and years: 

•            Digital and data driven transformation 

Digital tools and data insights can boost efficiency, improve client experience, and strengthen differentiation.

•            Specialist and emerging risk expertise

Growing demand for solutions in areas like cyber and climate risk creates strong advisory opportunities.

•            Enhanced advisory services 

Clients increasingly value risk management guidance, training, and preventative support.

Potential challenges include...

•            Competition and margin pressure 

Direct channels and digital competitors continue to challenge traditional broker models.

•            Technology integration 

Legacy systems and slow digital adoption can limit efficiency and client service.

•            Market volatility and rising costs 

Increasing compliance, technology, and talent costs require careful balance between service quality and profitability

What does the future hold for DUAL Ireland? 

As DUAL Ireland enters its second decade, our focus is firmly on building a business that is stronger, broader, and even more relevant to the needs of brokers, clients, and insurer partners. The foundation we have built over the past 10 years gives us both the confidence and the capability to accelerate into the next phase of our growth.

DUAL certainly doesn’t lack ambition. We are the leading MGA in many of the territories in which we operate and part of a global business in 21 countries. In Europe, for example, DUAL is one of the leading MGA’s across many countries, including Spain, Germany and Italy, with Ireland following fast in their footsteps. However, being ‘No.1’ is much more than just size.  Being a leading MGA allows us to be more innovative with our product development and investment in technology, providing our brokers with wider product choice, operational resilience, and often more competitive pricing. 

We see significant opportunity to grow our specialist product range. Our Transactional Liability offering is expanding to meet broader M&A needs, alongside developments in Surety & Trade Credit. More products are in the pipeline. The market continues to demand fast, expert underwriting with a deep understanding of emerging risks, and we will keep building solutions that reflect our technical strength, niche expertise, and agile operating model. 

Our focus will remain on sustainable, profitable expansion, driven by strong capacity partnerships, data led underwriting, and a firm commitment to service excellence. The recent partnership with Hiscox in the HNW space is an example of the type of strategic collaboration that will help us scale while maintaining quality, discipline, and consistency – and further serving the needs of our brokers.

Innovation will also sit at the heart of our future plans. Whether through enhanced data and automation, improved integration with brokers and insurers, or more efficient underwriting workflows, our aim is always the same: to make better decisions, faster, while supporting brokers with the tools and insights they need.

Above all, our ambitions are driven by broker relationships. Every new product, technology investment, and partnership is designed to strengthen the broker value proposition. At DUAL, we are always striving to help you do more. The next decade will be defined by deeper collaboration, sharper expertise, and a continued commitment to being a partner brokers can rely on in every market cycle. 

DUAL Underwriting Ireland DAC is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Its firm reference number is C187789. DUAL Underwriting Ireland DAC is registered in Ireland No. 633531 with its registered offices at: 98 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, Dublin 2, D02 F3F2.