Fastest-growing Insurance Companies in the USA | Fast Brokerages – Go Health Pro

“Most of this has been in the consolidation of middle and back-office activities, but we are also starting to see the early shoots of success in technology enablement of front office and more bespoke broker activities.”

While the other route to growth is via acquisitions and consolidation, that has been prevalent across the industry and is expected to slow down.

It is still happening, though. For example:

• January 2025 – Ryan Specialty acquired Velocity Risk Underwriters from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP for $525 million.
  
   

• March 2025 – Balance Partners announced the acquisition of Vanguard Specialty.
  
   

• March 2025 – NEXT Insurance was acquired by Munich Re’s ERGO  for $2.6 billion. 

MarshBerry’s Pete Kampf pinpoints specialty insurance as the main driver of consolidation. He says, “Following 2023’s all-time high of 181 specialty insurance intermediary transactions, 2024 experienced 120 total transactions, representing a 33 percent decline …. The specialty intermediary mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market remains stable: the continued outpacing of demand over the supply of quality sellers.”

Joshua Morley, chairperson and co-founder of Ori-gen Agency Insurance, underlines what defines progress. He says, “Is inorganic growth real growth? I think that’s the hard part to define.”

Morley points to a key driver of organic growth as tapping into niche markets. He gives the example of taking a subset of the construction industry, namely, African American, Latino, or Asian American contractors that could be underserved.

“For a lot of independent brokers that aren’t the bigger or regional shops, looking at those subniches can really move the needle in terms of growing organically, and that’s just speaking from our experience of finding these subniches or ethnic niches within the industry,” he explains.

Along with tapping into niche markets, the other enabler for brokerages to grow is by leveraging tech. Brokers are now dealing with increasing amounts of data from sources such as connected devices, higher-fidelity weather and vegetation data, but a lot of it is unstructured and generative AI has shown early promise in tapping into this potential.

“We see the leaders working to access this efficiently and to leverage insights to drive broker effectiveness, ensure coverage adequacy,” says O’Neill. “The leading players recognize this is not just a technology solution but also realize that it will involve changes across people, process, and data to unleash the real potential.”

Mark Todd, marketing/public relations chair of the National African American Insurance Association and director of strategic partnerships at Ori-gen, explains that some tasks that used to take days are now completed more quickly, with insurtech being so powerful due to its speed and accuracy.

He says, “We’ve got some companies we’re working with that help with data mining and helping put together your proposals, doing policy comparisons, and putting it on a spreadsheet.”

But he adds how hard it can be to grow revenue while staying on top of current clients. For Morley, there is a need to embrace tech in the appropriate way, because he feels the leading brokerages grow by understanding what matters.

“We are the relationship. We are the knowledge, the trust, and so you have to look at technology, not to solve all your problems,” he adds. “Whatever you’re using doesn’t replace what you’re actually the best at.”

Insurance Business America’s Fast Brokerages 2025 have remained true to their founding principles and delivered outstanding service, which has been the bedrock of their growth. All of this year’s winners recorded at least a 15 percent rise in revenue.

Powering the firm’s success is the executive team’s deep experience as brokers. They understand what it’s like to be at the sharp end and ensure that flows through the business.

Chief operating officer Peter Carpenter points to a large number of successful brokers always keen to join Alliant, which he refers to as “an organic growth machine”. He began by starting a brokerage 3,000 miles from home in Seattle.

“We spent our 10 years street fighting to try to gain market share before we sold it to Alliant,” he says. “There is a difference between university-credentialed people getting into these positions to run firms that have never dealt with a client. We know what it is to do that and it oozes through our firm and it’s the old adage – a fish stinks from the head down.”

Proving the point, longstanding and recently retired CEO Tom Corbett was a career broker, while most of the other leaders have had similar professional paths.

Strategy has driven Alliant’s revenue growth and it differs from their competitors’ approach. While they may look to institutionalize clients by disconnecting them from their broker and becoming attached to the overall company, Carpenter and the team believe in the reverse. They want the clients and brokers to remain close and maintain trust, while Alliant diligently connects to the brokers without forcing their brand on clients.

“We work really hard to make sure that those people that are out there with the clients are institutionalized at Alliant, that they love being here and they’re participating in the upside of the business,” says Carpenter. “I’m not going to go call and say, ‘Hey, I’m Peter the COO, so you should love Alliant.’ The broker is the only reason they’re here and I’ve lived that, so I get it.”

Team ethos 

Alliant deploys a flat hierarchy, so employees have ready access to the executive team. This not only empowers everyone but allows brokers who already understand the industry and their clients to continue working together seamlessly. Alliant avoids asking for meaningless stats or placing arbitrary targets on their people, like some industry players do.

“We have people with giant client bases who are incredible professionals and they could run their own businesses,” says Carpenter. “They’re not going to answer to someone who flamed out and wants to know how many cold calls they made last week. It’s ridiculous to do that.”

Compensation is also used as an incentive to encourage employees. Alliant is more than 50 percent internally owned, which is unusual for a company with a valuation of over $20 billion. This control means the executive team ensures they put brokers first and never lose sight of that.

 

Carpenter says, “Most of these private equity firms are directing the organizations into what they want to see, and you have kind of ‘ivory tower’ decisions being made about how the businesses should run, versus having respect for the people in the field knowing what they’re doing.”

And he adds, “The way we equitize people is based on success, not your last name or who your friend is in the firm. It’s about performance.”

While Alliant is structured to be fully compliant and shares best practice across all of its 14,000-strong team, the firm is against the artificial flexing of bureaucracy. Both its hierarchy and compensation positions work together to provide incentives, but also space to thrive.

“It’s this symbiotic thing of ‘I respect you and you respect me,’” says Carpenter. “Let’s be in our lanes and work together where we need to, and let’s not have me sit on your head when you don’t need me to.”

However, the environment comes with the expectation that those who join will seize the opportunity. There is space to run and for brokers to show their value.

“It’s not a great place to be mediocre,” admits Carpenter.

Growth is a constant at Alliant, with the firm focused on continuing its momentum. Alliant hasn’t needed to overpay for acquisitions because it can rely on its reputation and model to attract brokers who want to grow. The incoming brokers are told what to expect and allowed to work within that.

Carpenter says, “Our success ratio with the people that join us is through the roof because it’s a little self-screening. You’re coming here because you’re going to be able to do way better for yourself and your clients.”

Some growth also comes from mergers as brokerages join Alliant and, again, those owners are attracted by going somewhere they know an independent culture will remain, compared to selling to a larger group that may want to change and enforce a new way of doing things.

“We’re made up of people who have sought refuge from these other places. There’s no path to Alliant becoming part or doing a deal with Aon or Marsh,” adds Carpenter.

Unwavering customer service is the core driver for the New York-based firm. It is the linchpin behind Hirschfeld and Associates’ multi-year growth plan, defined by key performance indicators that it consistently achieves:

Both show the ability to ensure clients are well protected and satisfied, but also the ability to provide tailored insurance solutions that meet client needs at competitive value.

Beyond simply offering a policy, the firm conducts research to present the best possible product available in the market that aligns with the clients’ specific requirements. They implement a strategy built around the principle of treating each customer as if they are the only customer.

Founder and president Joel Hirschfeld says, “This isn’t just a slogan; it’s implanted in our values. We achieve this by dedicating significant time to truly understand each client’s unique needs, both personal and business.”

An extension of the commitment to service is better coverage, which the firm feels often has too much of a transactional nature.

“The rationale behind this is simple: in today’s complex world, off-the-shelf policies often leave gaps in protection,” says Hirschfeld.

Brokers are trained to conduct thorough risk assessments for each individual and business client. Based on this assessment, the firm works with its carrier partners to assemble customized insurance packages that provide the most comprehensive and cost-effective protection for their unique exposures.

An example of where this is being applied is in the increased need for cyber liability coverage. 

Hirschfeld says, “We’ve invested in training our team and building relationships with carriers who specialize in this area to ensure we can offer robust solutions to our business clients.”

Becoming bigger

As a fast-growing firm, Hirschfeld and Associates has added new brokers but upholds two non-negotiable qualities:

Team members are advocates of customer service centered on building rapport, communicating clearly, and prioritizing clients’ needs. And the knowledge ensures brokers grasp the intricacies of products and can explain them effectively.

These qualities are reinforced by an onboarding program.

“It involves a combination of formal training on our systems and product offerings, mentorship from experienced brokers, and a strong emphasis on shadowing and hands-on learning,” says Hirschfeld. “We also dedicate time to reinforcing our customer service philosophy and ensuring they understand how to deliver the ‘treating each customer as if they are our only customer’ experience.”

Technology is also used to streamline processes and free up brokers’ time to focus on client interactions. There is a strong emphasis on internal quality control and review of processes to ensure the coverage recommended is appropriate and accurate. 

 

In addition, the firm actively solicits client feedback through direct communication to identify areas for improvement. 

Acquisitions are another pillar of growth, but they are only undertaken when the company feels it will expand its capabilities to serve a wider range of client needs.

Hirschfeld and Associates actively seeks firms that offer a broad spectrum of insurance products – from personal lines, such as home and auto, to commercial lines covering various industries.

“The goal is to acquire agencies that complement our existing offerings and allow us to provide a more comprehensive suite of solutions to our clients,” says Hirschfeld. “This ‘all types of coverage and all possible markets’ approach is strategic. It enables us to become a one-stop shop for our clients, increasing their loyalty and our market share by being able to address a wider array of their risk management needs.”

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