• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Contact Us
  • Sponsor An Email
  • Post A Job
  • Merger & Acquisition Services

Agency Checklists

Massachusetts Insurance News & More

You are here: Home / Insurance News | Massachusetts / Insurance Agencies | Mergers & Acquisitions / Q1-2022 Sees A Decline in U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Activity

Q1-2022 Sees A Decline in U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Activity

May 3, 2022 by AC Editor

Deals for property & casualty and benefits brokers in US and Canada dip 14% in first quarter, OPTIS Partners reports

It couldn’t last forever. After a string of record-breaking quarters, OPTIS Partners reports that the First Quarter of 2022 (Q1-2022) saw a 14% dip in insurance agency mergers and acquisitions activity, representing a total of 149 agency transactions.

“The decline is not surprising because the fourth quarter of 2021 was frenetic, with 384 deals. Deal-makers usually take a short-lived breather after busy year-end activities, and seller inventory is shrinking,” said Steve Germundson, a partner at OPTIS Partners, an investment banking and financial consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry.

“Many agency owners who had been thinking about selling over the last few years were pushed to act by record valuations and concern over tax increases.  While valuations remain very high, the concern over tax increases has abated,” said OPTIS managing partner Timothy J. Cunningham.

Source: OPTIS Partners

According to the firm’s analysis, Q1-2022 was the lowest first-quarter total since 2016 representing a 7% decline from the five-year average. While a slower start to the new year, Mr. Germundson remained optimistic with regards to the remaining quarters of the year.

“History would tell us that activity in the remainder of 2022 will likely rise. Our conversations with a number of buyers confirm that as many are reporting double-digit numbers of letters of intent in hand going into the Q2,” Germundson said.


OPTIS Partners expands it analyses to other insurance distribution markets

In the past, the quarterly OPTIS Partner report included data covering both U.S. and Canadian agencies ‘selling primarily property-and-casualty insurance, agencies selling both P&C and employee benefits, and those selling only employee benefits.’ Starting this year, however, the company announced that it has expanded its tracking to include other sellers such as life/financial services, consulting, and other businesses associated with insurance distribution.

Within this new framework, the firm continues to breaks down buyers into four distinct groups:

  • private equity-backed/hybrid brokers,
  • privately held brokers,
  • publicly held brokers, and
  • all others

P&C Sellers continues to dominate sellers

While agency sales are down across the country, Property & Casualty sellers still account for the lion’s share of the transactions in Q1-2022. Approximately 58% of all transactions (87 according to OPTIS Partners) involved property & casualty agency sellers. After that, benefits agencies sales totaled 11 (7%), while 25%, or 37 sales, included P&C/benefits agencies. OPTIS Partners says the remaining 10% involved ‘all other sellers’.  


Acrisure & Hub Take Top Spots Once Again

Among buyers, Acrisure and Hub stood out once again as the most active buyers in the nation. Both recorded the most transactions in Q1-2022, with 14 and 12 respectively. Both these figures were similar to the companies’ results at this same time last year. In comparison, three of the most active buyers in the past few years, such as AssuredPartners and Alera, had no announced transactions during this quarter.

As for other top buyers this quarter, OPTIS Partners noted that Inszone Insurance Services had 10 deals, High Street Partners had nine, while Integrity Marketing Group had seven, and PCF Insurance had six. 

As for the type of seller dominating the marketplace, private equity-backed/hybrid group of buyers continue to fuel this market acquiring 70% of all Q1-2022’s agency transactions, while private parties accounted for only 21% of agency acquisitions. 

Active acquires five or more deals in Q1-2022

Buyer by TypeQ1-2018Q1-2019Q1-2020Q1-2021Q1-2022
Acrisure291718914
Hub International1312171212
Inszone Insurance Services4210
High Street Partners49
Integrity Marketing Group117
PCF986
World Insurance Associates35465
Alkeme Holdings5
Broadstreet Partners7916125
Westland Insurance Group3135
Higginbotham & Associates1135
Alliant Insurance Services11175
All Other931101059961
Total Reported Transactions151155176150149

How to access the full report

The OPTIS Partners report is based on its own proprietary database tracking which are the most active acquirers and other announced transactions. As such, while it is a reasonably accurate indication of deal activity in the sector, it is highly probable that the actual number of agency acquisitions was far greater than the total number reported. One simple reason for this result is that many buyers and sellers do not report transactions at all, while other acquirers omit reporting small transactions. Access the report by click the image below:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Insurance Agencies | Mergers & Acquisitions, Latest News Tagged With: Agency Checklists, insurance agencies sold in New England, insurance agency mergers and acquisitions, Mass. Insurance News, massachusetts insurance news, New England Insurance News

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored

Sponsored

Latest Agency Sales

Patriot Growth Adds Two Employee Benefit Agencies in Massachusetts

Cross Insurance Acquires Two More Massachusetts Insurance Agencies & Opens A New Office in Newburyport

Q1-2022 Sees A Decline in U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Activity

Insurance Agency Mergers & Acquisitions in Mass. | Q1-2022

Insurance Agency Mergers & Acquisitions in Mass. | Q1-2022

More Agency Sales

Career News

Two New Appointments At Preferred Mutual

Agency Checklists, MA Insurance News, Mass. Insurance News, MA Life Insurance Companies, Boston Mutual

Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company Appoints David Martin as Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Satellite Agency Network

SAN Group Announces Recipients of 2022 SAN Awards

Alera Group Expands Northeast Regional Leadership Team

A.I.M. Mutual Elects Daniel A. Landers President & Chief Executive Officer

A.I.M. Mutual Elects Daniel A. Landers President & Chief Executive Officer

In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Daniel Rizzo, 1937-2022

In Memoriam: Bruce MacDonald 1935-2022

In Memoriam: Bruce MacDonald 1935-2022

In Memoriam: William "Bill" Carter, Jr. 1932-2022

In Memoriam: William “Bill” Carter, Jr. 1932-2022

CAR News

17 Bullet Points on The New Insurance Labor Rate Report

2nd Look 2022: The Massachusetts Private Passenger Auto Insurance Marketplace

2nd Look 2022: The Commercial Auto Insurance Marketplace in Massachusetts

1st Look 2022: The Commercial Auto Insurance Marketplace in Massachusetts

View More CAR News

Massachusetts Law Updates

Front view of the Quincy Mass. Masonic Temple with Roman Columns

Confused Voicemail Leads to E&O and Coverage Suits

SJC Construed For 1st Time Meaning of “Doing Business As” In Relation to CGL Coverage.

5 Points On New Ruling: Unreasonable Storage Reduces ACV Payment

A short opinion with a disproportionate impact on first-party property damage total loss claims.

Agency Checklist article on COVID-19 Closings in Massachusetts

First State High-Court COVID-19 Decision On Business Interruption Claims

Dismissed by Superior Court, the restaurants took their appeal directly to the SJC.

Vermont Mutual Asks High Court to Reverse Decision $215,000 Attorney Fee Award Payable As Damages under Bodily Injury Coverage

An unusual case involving a breach of warranty claim under Chapter 93A and whether mandatory attorney fee awards apply.

More Mass. Law Updates

DOI News

The 2022 MA Home Insurance Report Part II | MA FAIR Plan Review

The 2022 MA Home Insurance Report | Part I

Mass. Business Entity License Renewals on Hold

DOI Fines Producer $1,250 For Prior Failures To Report After License Lapses

View More DOI News

Insurance Fraud

Quinn Group Ins. Owner’s Trial to Begin on Federal Benefit and Social Security Fraud Today

First Guilty Plea in No-Fault PIP Auto Insurance Fraud Scheme

GM Financial Will Pay Over $1.8 Million For GAP Coverage Refunds and Loan Violations

Insurance Agency To Pay $100,000 Fine And $515,000 In Restitution Under Consent Decree

More Insurance Fraud News

Footer

Agency Checklists

About us
Contact us

14 Summer Street
Suite 102
Malden, MA 02148
617-598-3800

Advertise on Agency Checklists

We offer a variety of ways to get help promote your company or product.

Announcements
Email Sponsorships
Partnerships
Custom Collaborations

*Affiliate Disclosure

Please note that any of Agency Checklists’ articles might contain one or more affiliate links. This means that any subsequent purchase resulting from these links may result in a commission for us, but at no additional cost to you. For example, as an Amazon Associate, Agency Checklists earns a commission from all qualifying purchases. By working with affiliates we can continue to keep Agency Checklists subscription free. Thank you for your support.

SEARCH OUR SITE

Explore Our Archives

Copyright © 2022 · Agency Checklists · All rights reserved.

 

Loading Comments...