Leadership Matters

When firms are evaluating the risk profile of a business targeted for acquisition, one metric they use to measure its strength and potential value is the quality of the leadership team.

What does the current leadership look like? Even more important, what will it look like in the future? Depth at all levels of the organization chart matters.

When positioning their firm for a potential strategic partnership, many sellers overlook investment in talent. Everyone in this industry knows there is a war for talent. Whether it’s a billion-dollar firm or a ten-million-dollar broker, they face the same challenges in finding quality people who will ultimately become the next generation of leaders.

Additionally, even when firms find and retain top talent, many often undervalue the opportunities their best people will have within a future, larger organization. Quite frequently, sellers see their key talent being asked to take on additional roles within the larger organization that didn’t exist within their smaller independent firm.

Buyers are putting additional value on sellers that have built out depth in senior roles with high-quality talent—beyond the one or two people at the top of the firm or who have the most equity.

For buyers, a potential strategic partner with a deep leadership team and distributed ownership across younger colleagues shows that the firm is identifying its next generation of leaders, ensuring those folks have an opportunity to own a piece of the business and increasing the likelihood of retaining and promoting top talent as the business grows.

Having the right talent in place, with the right opportunities to keep them within the organization, adds to the credibility of a firm’s story. It lowers the business’s risk profile and ultimately enhances the multiple that a buyer is willing to pay. Plus, if a firm decides not to sell, relentless focus on investing in top talent solidifies its foundation and puts the organization in control of its future.

M&A Market Update

As of July 31, there were 395 announced insurance brokerage M&A transactions in the United States in 2025. Private capital-backed buyers accounted for 285 of the 395 deals (72.2%) through July. Independent agencies were buyers in 61 deals, representing 15.4% of the market. There have been six announced transactions by bank buyers in 2025. Deals involving specialty distributors as targets accounted for 63 transactions, about 16% of the total market, continuing the trend of low supply of specialty firms.

Ten buyers accounted for 46.8% of all announced transactions year to date, while the top three (BroadStreet Partners, Hub International, and World Insurance Associates) accounted for 23.3% of the 395 transactions.

Notable Transactions

• July 8: King Risk Partners moves into the Louisiana market through its acquisition of Louisiana Insurance Services, an independent agency based in Ruston. The deal aligns with King’s strategic expansion across the Southeastern United States. Louisiana Insurance Services now operate under the King Risk Partners umbrella. MarshBerry advised Louisiana Insurance Services on this transaction.
• July 22: Heffernan Insurance Brokers announced its acquisition of PAC Global Insurance Brokerage, bringing marine cargo expertise into its portfolio of offerings. PAC Global now operates as Heffernan’s Marine Cargo specialty practice out of El Segundo, California. MarshBerry advised PAC Global on this transaction.
• July 31: Specialty Program Group, a subsidiary of Hub International, acquired ANOVA Marine Insurance Services, a South Florida-based managing general agency specializing in cargo, logistics, transportation, liability insurance, and bonds. The firm will continue to operate independently. MarshBerry advised ANOVA on this transaction.