Patrick Ryan: Growth in Brokerage Business Among Smaller Firms, Consolidation Will Continue

CEO and founder Patrick G. Ryan of Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group at MarketScout's "Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium" in Dallas said that smaller insurance brokerages are growing faster than their larger competitors and creating opportunities for consolidation.

Source: Source: Business Insurance | Published on September 16, 2010

Growth in the brokerage business during the past five years has been among smaller brokers, while “the top four or five have had very little organic growth, if any,” Ryan told the symposium attendees Tuesday. “There will continue to be consolidation.”

Consolidation is unlikely among the largest brokers but would not be unexpected among smaller companies that are showing gains in a challenging marketplace, he said.

“The growth has been in the regional broker and local broker,” Mr. Ryan said. “It says there is really great business out there for people who want to buy what's needed.”

Mr. Ryan speaking on an often-debated issue of creating a single federal regulator said it would be the wrong approach to insurance regulation. State regulators have done a good job of controlling insurers and ensuring their solvency, he said.

“I like the good, old-fashioned insurance department that's got career employees who know what they are doing and are honest and hard-working,” Mr. Ryan said. “I think one big federal regulator has proven to be a problem in many other areas.”