The
Leader
s
Issue
Best’s Review’s
Top Global
Insurance Brokers
B
est’s Review presents its
annual ranking of the global
insurance brokers community,
based on 2011 total revenue. Information was obtained from company
reports or provided by the companies.
The Top 20 are presented according
to ranking; the others that participated follow in alphabetical order.
The top three are unchanged from
a year ago: Marsh & McLennan Cos.
again tops the list, followed by Aon
PLC and Willis Group Holdings.
Three companies were not in the
Top 20 last year: Insphere Insurance
Solutions at No. 14; AmWins Group at
No. 15 and Confie Seguros Holding
Co. at No. 20.
Insphere Insurance Solutions was
launched in July 2009 as an insurance
distribution company to serve the
small business and the middle income
market in the United States.
AmWins Group, based in Charlotte, N.C., recently acquired THB
Group PLC, based principally in London.
Formed in early 2008, Confie
Seguros is a U.S.-based insurance broker primarily focused on the insurance needs of the Hispanic consumer.
Many brokers listed acquisitions
and expansion into specialty lines
as developments in 2011.
Revenues are expressed in U.S.
dollars. Currency conversion is as
of Dec. 31, 2011.
Top 20 Global Brokers
Ranked by 2011 Total Revenues
Ranking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Broker
Marsh & McLennan Cos.
Aon PLC
Willis Group Holdings Ltd.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Wells Fargo Insurance Services*
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC
BB&T Insurance Services Inc.
Brown & Brown Inc.
National Financial Partners Corp.
Lockton Companies LLC
Hub International Ltd.
Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc.
USI Holdings Corp.
Insphere Insurance Solutions
AmWins Group Inc.**
Alliant Insurance Services Inc.
Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford
CNinsure Inc.
The Leavitt Group
Confie Seguros Holding Co.
Total Revenues 2011
$11.526 billion
11.287 billion
3.447 billion
2.135 billion
1.960 billion
1.261 billion
1.166 billion
1.014 billion
1.013 billion
915,651 million
879,514 million
837,221 million
659,551 million
655,100 million
481,000 million
462,000 million
344,000 million
195,886 million
192,541 million
180,000 million
*From the parent company’s 2011 annual report. Includes revenue from non-core, non-WFIS business.
Best’s Review went to press before final numbers were available.
**Includes revenue from THB Group acquisition.
Copyright © 2012 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report or document may be distributed in any electronic
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the A.M. Best Company. For additional details, refer to
our Terms of Use available at the A.M. Best Company website: www.ambest.com/terms.
1. Marsh & McLennan Cos.
Headquarters: New York
Revenues 2011: $11.5 billion
Top Executive: Brian Duperreault, president and CEO
Top Lines: Insurance; reinsurance; consulting.
Developments in 2011: Implemented restructuring
actions to eliminate about 400 positions at Mercer and 40 positions at
corporate for an annualized cost savings of about $45 million. Made
12 acquisitions in 2011 using $160 million in cash compared with $427
million used for acquisitions in 2010. Acquired several businesses,
including: RJF Agencies, an independent insurance agency in the
upper Midwest; Hampton Roads Bonding, a surety bonding agency
for commercial, road, utility, maritime and government contractors in
the state of Virginia and the Boston office of Kinloch Consulting Group
Inc.; Prescott Pailet Benefits, an employee benefits broker based
in Texas; the employee benefits division of Kaeding, Ernst & Co, a
Massachusetts-based employee benefits, life insurance and financial
planning consulting firm; and Seitlin Insurance, a property and casualty
insurance and employee benefits firm in South Florida.
2. Aon PLC
Headquarters: London
Revenues 2011: $11.3 billion
Top Executive: Greg Case, president and CEO
Top Lines: Risk management; insurance and reinsurance
brokerage; human resource solutions.
Developments in 2011: Corporate headquarters moved to London;
Aon Corp. became Aon PLC.; acquired brokers, including South
African broker Glenrand MIB Ltd.; launched Aon Risk Maturity Index,
a proprietary online tool created to empower risk and finance leaders
to assess their organization’s risk management; Aon eSolutions
introduced RIScloud, the next-generation cloud solution designed and
built for the risk, insurance and safety community.
3. Willis Group Holdings Ltd.
Headquarters: London
Revenues 2011: $3.45 billion
Top Executive: Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and CEO
Top Lines: Commercial; reinsurance; property/casualty.
Developments in 2011: Acquired a 23% interest in a
South African brokerage at a total cost of $2 million; acquired a 100%
interest in a Polish brokerage, Brokerskie Centrum Ubezpieczeniowe,
at a total cost of $2 million; acquired 100% of Broking Italia, a Romebased employee benefits broker at a total cost of $12 million. Strong
contributions to 2011 organic commissions and fees growth from
most regions, including double-digit growth in Latin America and
Eastern Europe regions, together with single-digit growth in Asia
and Western Europe. In particular, strong growth in Brazil, Chile,
Argentina, Russia and China. Announced plans to accept contingent
commissions in employee benefits business as of April 2012 to remain
competitive.
4. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Headquarters: Itasca, Ill.
Revenues 2011: $2.13 billion
Top Executive: J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman,
president and CEO
Top Lines: Retail commercial property/casualty;
employee benefits; wholesale insurance brokerage.
Developments in 2011: Returned to organic growth; announced 23
mergers and acquisitions, including Heath Lambert Group, its largest
acquisition in its 84-year history, which more than doubled its U.K.
presence; successfully completed the integration of GAB Robins, which
expanded its risk management segment client base.
48
BEST’S REV)%7s*5,9
5. Wells Fargo Insurance Services
Headquarters: Chicago
Revenues 2011: $1.96 billion*
Top Executive: Laura Schupbach, executive vice president
and head of Wells Fargo Insurance
Top Lines: Commercial property/casualty; employee
benefits; personal lines; professional risk solutions; international
coverages; life insurance.
Developments in 2011: Named new head of insurance; expanded bank
cross-sell relationships; realigned brokerage and consulting leadership
around customers, key markets and bank partners; delivered employee
benefit growth; launched Health Care Reform Analyzer tool and Play
It Safe concussion care program; completed seven acquisitions; and
divested medical third-party administration and wholesale operations.
*From the parent company’s 2011 annual report. Includes revenue from non-core,
non-WFIS business. Best’s Review went to press before final numbers were available.
6. Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC
Headquarters: London
Revenues 2011: $1.26 billion
Top Executive: Dominic Burke, group CEO
Top Lines: London market insurance/reinsurance
brokerage; employee benefits; insurance services.
Developments in 2011: Expanded further in Europe with the merging of
its Italian business with that of Marine & Aviation S.p.A. and the acquisition
of a 25% holding in a new joint venture in Spain formed with March-Unipsa
and increasing its shareholding in Siaci Saint Honoré from 20% to 26%;
the Irish business acquired FBD Insurance Brokers, an agri-food specialty
broker; and the South African office received regulatory clearances to
become fully operational; completed the acquisition of an initial 50.1% of
the share capital of Orbital Corredores de Seguros in Chile.
7. BB&T Insurance Services Inc.
Headquarters: Raleigh, N.C.
Revenues 2011: $1.16 billion
Top Executive: H. Wade Reece, chairman and CEO
Top Lines: Commercial property/casualty; employee
benefits; personal lines.
Developments in 2011: Acquired Liberty Benefit Insurance Services,
San Jose, Calif.; Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Columbia, Md.; and
Precept Group, with offices in Irvine and San Ramon, Calif.
8. Brown & Brown Inc.
Headquarters: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Revenues 2011: $1.01 billion
Top Executive: J. Powell Brown, president and CEO
Top Lines: Middle market property/casualty.
Developments in 2011: Total revenues for the year
exceeded $1 billion for the first time. The firm acquired Arrowhead
General Insurance Agency Inc., a deal expected to increase the
company’s annual revenues and staff size by about 10%.
9. National Financial Partners Corp.
Headquarters: New York
Revenues 2011: $1.013 billion
Top Executive: Jessica M. Bibliowicz, chairman, president
and chief executive officer
Top Lines: Benefits, insurance and wealth management.
Developments in 2011: NFP’s accomplishments in 2011 were
highlighted by the company’s revenue growing to more than $1 billion,
driven by organic growth and acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA and margins
also improved. The company reports it continued to generate strong cash
flow and executed its balanced capital allocation strategy of acquisitions,
a share repurchase program and ongoing business investments.
Agent/Broker
Throughout 2011, NFP also took actions to further consolidate its
property/casualty and executive benefits businesses under the
coordinated brands of NPF P&C and NFP Executive Benefits.
10. Lockton Companies LLC
Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo.
Revenues 2011: $915.6 million
Top Executive: David M. Lockton, chairman
Top Lines: Risk management and commercial insurance
programs; employee benefits; affinity programs;
reinsurance; retirement services, surety.
Developments in 2011: Expanded geographically with the addition of
offices in Beijing, Oslo, Memphis, Charlotte, San Fernando Valley (Calif.),
Philadelphia and Omaha; prepared to launch Lockton Global partnership
to enhance service to multinational clients. Expanded advisory services
for clients in health care, cyber liability, executive liability, health risk
solutions, construction and design and private equity and hedge funds;
invested in data analytics talent and tools, including Lockton ARMR
for property/casualty market intelligence, L-SCALE for executive risk
coverage and health reform actuarial modeling.
11. Hub International Ltd.
Headquarters: Chicago
Revenues 2011: $879.5 million
Top Executive: Martin P. Hughes, chairman and CEO
Top Lines: Property/casualty; life/health; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Hub closed 37 acquisitions, a
record number, in 2011 and was ranked as the leading brokerage with
the highest number of M&A transactions during the year. In 2011, Hub
expanded its footprint in North America with key acquisitions in the
southeastern U.S. and Manitoba and entered Latin America with the
acquisition of Sao Paolo, Brazil-based brokerage, Harmonia Corretora
de Seguros Ltda.
12. Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc.
Headquarters: Southfield, Mich.
Revenues 2011: $837.2 million
Top Executive: Robert S. Cubbin, president and CEO
Top Lines: Commercial business (property/casualty); life
and health; benefits; personal lines.
Developments in 2011: Revenue increased 11.6% to $837.2 million;
continued to expand product offerings, such as launching initiatives
to begin writing for personal watercraft, outdoor recreation and
technology markets. Meadowbrook expanded distribution of other
specialty products, including environmental and products liability,
and continued to build upon service and expertise in select workers’
compensation markets.
13. USI Holdings Corp.
Headquarters: Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
Revenues 2011: $660 million
Top Executive: Michael J. Sicard, chairman, president and CEO
Top Lines: Commercial lines; personal lines; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Closed seven deals representing
$27 million in annualized revenue. Launched USI Solutions, a sales tool
which enables sales professionals to provide business issue driven
solutions to clients.
14. Insphere Insurance Solutions
Headquarters: North Richland Hills, Texas
Revenues 2011: $655.1 million
Top Executive: Kenneth J. Fasola, president and CEO
Top Lines: Individual health insurance; Medicare
Advantage life insurance; and supplemental commercial
15. AmWins Group Inc.
Headquarters: Charlotte, N.C.
Revenues 2011: $481 million
Top Executive: Steve DeCarlo, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Commercial property/casualty; employee
benefits; niche programs.
Developments in 2011: Completed several acquisitions including
London-based THB Group. Other developments include record revenues
and earnings and continued retailer RFP success.
16. Alliant Insurance Services Inc.
Headquarters: Newport Beach, Calif.
Revenues 2011: $462 million
Top Executive: Thomas W. Corbett, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Property/casualty; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Continued growth in specialty
market segments across multiple lines; strengthened construction and
surety specialization by adding a highly experienced construction team
of more than 50 professionals with the goal of making Alliant the national
leader in construction brokerage.
17. Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford
Headquarters: London
Revenues 2011: $344 million
Top Executive: Toby Esser, chairman
Top Lines: Property/casualty; specialty risks;
reinsurance.
Developments in 2011: Restructured to form three core trading
units in reinsurance, international and specialty lines; launched a new
international management team; regionalized Latin American operations
to drive market growth.
18. CNinsure Inc.
Headquarters: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic
of China
Revenues 2011: $195.89 million
Top Executive: Chunlin Wang, chairman and CEO
Top Lines: Property/casualty; life insurance; and claims
adjusting.
Developments in 2011: At the end of 2011, announced the launch of
its China-wide insurance comparison website, known as Baowang;
announced a strategic partnership with Chartis Insurance Group China;
announced, then later withdrew, a non-binding proposal for going private,
citing unfavorable investment conditions.
19. The Leavitt Group
Headquarters: Cedar City, Utah
Revenues 2011: $193 million
Top Executive: Dane O. Leavitt, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Commercial property/casualty; health and
benefits; personal property/casualty.
Developments in 2011: Realized favorable results from efforts to
strengthen the company’s sales culture.
20. Confie Seguros Holding Co.
Headquarters: New York
Revenues 2011: $180 million
Top Executive: Joseph Waked, chief executive officer
Top Line: Personal lines and auto.
Developments in 2011: Fifteen companies acquired in
12 months. Entered five new markets: New York, New Jersey, Nevada,
Florida and Oregon. On pace to complete 30 acquisitions per year.
insurance.
BEST’S REV)%7s*5,9
49
Agent/Broker
The following brokers, although not ranked, shared their results and developments with Best’s Review.
They are listed alphabetically.
Beecher Carlson
Headquarters: Atlanta
Revenues 2011: $97 million
Top Executive: Dan Donovan
Top Lines: Property/casualty; executive liability.
Developments in 2011: Beecher Carlson filed for a patent on its ZOOM process.
Beneficial Insurance Services
Headquarters: Philadelphia
Revenues 2011: $7 million
Top Executive: Joseph F. Robinson, president
Top Lines: Professional liability; health insurance.
Developments in 2011: Successful cross-selling initiative. Implementation
of new agency management system.
CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services Inc.
Headquarters: Leawood, Kan.
Revenues 2011: $171.2 million
Top Executive: Robert A. O’Byrne, president
Top Lines: Employee benefits; property/casualty; retirement plan services;
payroll; human resources consulting services.
Developments in 2011: Completed four acquisitions in 2011: Thompson
Dunavant, the largest locally owned accounting and tax provider in Memphis,
Tenn.; Multiple Benefit Services, an employee benefits consulting company
in Atlanta; Gresham Smith, an accounting service provider in St. Louis, Mo.
and Tulsa, Okla.; and Advantage Benefit Planning, an employee benefit and
retirement business in Pleasantville, N.J.
Frank Crystal & Co.
Headquarters: New York
Revenues 2011: $131.7 million
Top Executive: James W. Crystal, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Property/casualty; professional liability for corporations and
financial institutions; employee benefits; private client services.
Developments in 2011: Expanded property and casualty management
team; opened Los Angeles office; expanded global footprint through
BrokersLink alliance.
GrECo International Holding AG
Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
Revenues 2011: $92.5 million
Top Executive: Friedrich Neubrand Jr., chief executive officer
Top Lines: All lines of corporate insurance property and liability; financial
lines; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Mainly resulting from acquisitions, the group
finished with constant organic growth. The focus was on the further
development of its international partnership with JLT, one of the world’s
leading brokers; the marketing of GrECo Online Services; and the foundation
of regional offices in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe and
Commonwealth of Independent States.
Higginbotham & Associates
Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas
Revenues 2011: $62 million
Top Executive: Rusty Reid
Top Lines: Property/casualty; risk management services; benefits; financial
products; life insurance.
Developments in 2011: Single Source mission of providing insurance, risk
management and financial services to commercial and personal property/
50
BEST’S REV)%7s*5,9
casualty coverage, employee benefits, retirement plans, life insurance and
executive compensation through broad market representation.
Hylant Group Inc.
Headquarters: Toledo, Ohio
Revenues 2011: $92.0 million
Top Executive: Mike Hylant, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Property/casualty; employee benefits; risk management.
Developments in 2011: Acquired AGIS (employee benefits) July 12, and
acquired ICAG (property/casualty) Nov. 23.
Integro Insurance Brokers
Headquarters: New York
Revenues 2011: $100 million
Top Executive: Peter F. Garvey, chief executive officer
Top Lines: Complex risk including property/casualty; management risk;
health care; international including wholesale and reinsurance.
Developments in 2011: Purchased Argo Insurance Brokers and marine
insurance broker Windward International to expand West Coast presence and
specialty product offerings. Revenues topped $100 million for the first time.
Keenan & Associates
Headquarters: Torrance, Calif.
Revenues 2011: $143.1 million
Top Executive: Sean K. Smith, president and CEO
Top Lines: Workers’ compensation; property and liability; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Public agency health care purchasing arrangement
to provide effective alternative in the health care reform environment;
expansion of training and loss prevention technology tools including special
education and employment practices liability resources; public agency
organizational transition programs providing early retirement incentives to
minimize layoffs and maintain staff revitalization.
Mathison Insurance Partners Inc.
Headquarters: Ridgeland, Miss.
Revenues 2011: $1.3 million
Top Executive: Chris Mathison, president
Top Lines: Agribusiness; excess; casualty; financial institutions; high-value
homeowners; management liability.
Developments in 2011: Expanded high-end homeowners capabilities by
adding E&S offerings. Also added three new excess casualty markets in
order to offer a more complete approach for agency partners.
Mesirow Insurance Services Inc.
Headquarters: Chicago
Revenues 2011: $87 million
Top Executive: Norman J. Malter, president
Top Lines: Property/casualty; management liability; employee benefits.
Developments in 2011: Expanded Mesirow Insurance Services Inc. to
include an international practice; launched Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR,
designed to provide integrated human resources solutions.
SullivanCurtisMonroe
Headquarters: Irvine, Ariz.
Revenues 2011: $30.5 million
Top Executive: John Monroe
Top Lines: Property; health; benefits; workers’ compensation.
Developments in 2011: Auto dealership program.