The “Regenerative” Nature of Independent Agencies Attractive to M&A Buyers

After years of being told that independent insurance agents were on the verge of extinction, the channel is looking stronger than ever. It continues to garner interest from private equity firms and other organizations — including other agencies — in the merger and acquisitions (M&A) space, and some large national carriers have added independent agents to take a multichannel approach. Matt Masiello, CEO of SIAA, talked to the New Hampshire Insurance Marketing Association (NHIMA) about the M&A market and what agencies can be doing today to prepare for a potential sale in the future.

“There’s a supply and demand battle going on in the M&A industry right now relative to insurance because it is such a great industry,” said Masiello. “The independent agency channel is going through an amazing transition. What we’re seeing is these regenerative characteristics in the independent agency channel in the number of new agencies that are coming on board and the melding of the direct, exclusive and
independent agency channels.”