top of page
Apr 24 min read

Insurance M&A Deals in 2024

The following report examines the health and outlook for insurance M&A deals in 2024. We base this research on several key findings in our proprietary SF database, which observes and records data from the top ~400 insurance M&A buyers. We have also linked sources from our third-party research in the section at the bottom of this page.


Insurance M&A Deal Valuation, 2024


Starting out in 2024, EBITDA and revenue multiples are in a good place, experiencing modest YoY growth despite the economic downturn of the last 18 months. 


Insurance Company EBITDA & Revenue Multiples, 2024

Insurance Agency EBITDA Multiples, 2018-2024 (Projected)





Perhaps the most surprising consideration for insurance M&A multiples in 2024 is how healthy they appear. As the second graph shows, EBITDA multiples have experienced steady increases over the last 6 years, despite the pandemic and ensuing economic downturn. 


Market Overview 


Despite some serious considerations (e.g., the 2024 election, interest rates/inflation), our team is cautiously optimistic about insurance M&A deals for the coming year. We’ve already seen how the rising interest rate has only caused minor slowdowns in the insurance sector, as depicted in the graph below: 


LIBOR vs. Insurance M&A Deal Volume, Q1 2022-Q1 2024 




Despite noticeable drops in deal volume during H2 2022 as interest rates rose initially, insurance M&A deal volume has more or less picked right back up. Granted, these numbers are not quite at pre-pandemic levels yet (although they are close), and they are nowhere near the M&A boom of 2021. They do, however, reinforce our observation that the stagnation affecting many other sectors in M&A has not hit nearly as hard for insurance agencies. There are a few likely reasons for this: 


  • Insurance, by nature, is compulsory, which adds inherent value to the business. 


  • Smaller agencies (>$1M) have been trading for especially lower valuation multiples over the last few years, making the potential ROI for prospective buyers significantly higher. 


  • PE firms have taken up a larger space in the total number of insurance M&A acquirers, making the profit motive for acquiring a small agency a bigger factor influencing insurance M&A deals in the current market.


Agency vs. Company: Which Is The Better Insurance M&A Deal?


As the points above suggest, the other factor at play here is size: while smaller agencies and brokers saw steady deal volume despite lower valuations caused by rising interest rates, larger insurance companies did see a significant drop in deal volume over the last 18 months. 


Here is a snippet from our SF Index, which tracks 22 of the most active acquirers in the insurance brokerage space: 


SF Index Deal Count, 2022-2023




The top 2 acquirers on the SF index also saw the most losses between 2022 and 2023. In contrast, however, the remaining agencies actually saw modest increases in deal count. This tells us that the losses felt throughout the insurance sector were almost entirely from larger acquisitions. Similarly, it tells us that not all acquirers have slowed down their acquisition volume over the last 18 months. 


Insurance M&A Sectors: Who Over- or Under-performed?


Insurance M&A over the last 18 months has been especially kind to insurance brokers, who saw a sharp increase in deal value between 2022 and 2023. By contrast, life and annuity providers saw only modest increases, while property & casualty saw a nearly 60% drop in deal value during that time. 


Insurance M&A Deal Value By Sector, 2020-2023




*Source: Deloitte’s 2024 Insurance M&A Outlook


The demand for brokers is likely to continue into 2024 due to their small-scale operations, which makes them perfect for “tuck-in” deals. In addition, the market maintains an overabundance of buyers and an excessive amount of dry powder waiting to be spent as interest rates lower. 


Navigating Insurance M&A Deals in 2024


While thorough, the report above only touches on a few of the complex topics that make insurance M&A deals such a specialized skill set. These complexities make running a deal process on your own incredibly difficult, even for sellers with prior experience selling a company. In deals with the highest earnout, business owners turn to a specialized M&A advisory firm to handle negotiations and oversee valuations. 


If you are interested in speaking with Sica | Fletcher about a possible deal process, please contact us using the information below.


About Sica | Fletcher:  Sica | Fletcher is a strategic and financial advisory firm focused exclusively on the insurance industry. Founders Michael Fletcher and Al Sica are two of the industry's leading dealmakers who have advised on over $16 billion in insurance agency and brokerage transactions since 2014. According to S&P Global, Sica | Fletcher ranked as the #1 advisor to the insurance industry for 2017-2023 YTD in terms of total deals advised on. Learn more at SicaFletcher.com.


Contact: Mike Fletcher

Managing Partner, Sica | Fletcher


Sources
bottom of page