MDS has turned 40. For me that is more than enough cause to focus this issue of FULLCOVER on this incredible journey, underlining why I also devoted the past 24 years of my life to this fantastic company.

MDS came into the world as a captive broker for the Sonae Group in Portugal. An extraordinary group led by a totally different leader, Mr Belmiro de Azevedo, the major driving force behind this company. At the dawn of the century there were 15 of us, working out of one office, with a single customer, the Sonae Group, and our revenue came to €1 million. But we all had drive, and we dreamed big. There are now 2300 of us working across 11 countries and 54 offices, posting revenue in the order of over €200 million. We kept growing. Innovating. Expanding internationally. We diversified our business, attracted new talent and a lot of knowledge, transforming MDS into a pillar of our sector in Portugal.

In Porto, 2004 saw us found the global network, Brokerslink, which now operates in 133 countries. We began our international expansion in 2001, investing in FirstAssur, the French internet broker, and then acquired a stake in a São Paulo broker, Lazam, which became MDS Brazil — which at the time posted revenue around R$1.6 million and now handles R$700 million. We put Portugal on the international risk management map when we organized the Ferma Forum in 2005 after having worked to establish APOGERIS, the Portuguese Risk Managers’ Association.

We became the national market leader in 2005 and still hold that title. We launched the first, and to date the only, mass distribution broker, Seguros Continente; created a captive insurer, HighDome, based in Malta, structured as a Protected Cell Company (PCC) which, by late 2023, had already issued over 3,300,000 policies. In 2007, we closed on one of the bigger, if not the biggest ever investment of the Portuguese insurance sector abroad as we acquired a 32% stake in London-based reinsurance broker Cooper Gay. In 2008, our shareholder partner in Brazil, the Suzano Group, joined us as an equity partner in the MDS holding company, remarkably enhancing our shareholder base.

We went to Portuguese-speaking Africa in 2013 and we now lead the market in Angola and maintain a key presence in Mozambique; we then brought RCG/Herco from Brazil to Portugal — a company of world renown in risk consultancy — launched MDS Re in 2015, which now leads reinsurance broking in Portugal; and became the first Portuguese-speaking Lloyd’s broker. In 2011 we launched the first corporate customer portal in the Portuguese market, Proximity, and in 2021 we replicated this groundbreaking formula when we created the first broker-developed app to serve individual customers.

We’ve now hosted the Global Brokerslink Conference twice: in Lisbon in 2010 and Porto in 2022, the latter welcoming over 350 attendees from over 80 countries in the world. Today, you’ll find us in Portugal, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Angola, Mozambique, Malta, Spain, Switzerland, Chile, Cyprus, Mexico, and the United States. We are the most international company in the Portuguese financial sector.

By late 2022, the Ardonagh Group, an independent broking group, ranked among the top 20 in the world and boasting a turnover in excess of $2.3 billion, acquired 100% of the MDS Group’s equity. With our new shareholder backing us, we want to keep growing. From Portugal to the world.

Leading is not just about coming in first. It is to forge new paths. That’s what we’ve done and shall continue to do, supported by all our customers, colleagues and partners, to whom we express our most heartfelt thanks.