MarshBerry’s semiannual Connect Summit was held on September 16-18, 2025, at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts. Connect is an executive peer exchange program for firms who believe in learning from the success of leaders who have gone before them. The Connect Summit is an invite-only, membership event that gives firms the opportunity to dive into firm-specific data and financials with their Strategic Issues Groups (SIGs) as part of the peer exchange. The event is intended to help hold peers accountable to the action items each firm has selected, to improve their business and drive change within their organizations.
The Fall event saw over 285 like-minded industry professionals – Connect members, MarshBerry advisors, strategic partners and guest firms – gather for robust industry thought leadership and intensive SIG working sessions.
Here are some of the highlights from this Fall’s event:
MarshBerry Chairman and CEO John Wepler’s State of the Industry
John Wepler kicked off the Connect Summit with his much-anticipated State of the Industry. This one was uniquely special as he provided an overview of the recent partnership announcement between MarshBerry and Lincoln International, a leading global investment banking advisory firm specializing in private capital markets. “We view this partnership as a pivotal step in advancing opportunities for our valued clients and team,” said Wepler.
The presentation also included a deep dive into the significant trends and challenges that continue to shape the insurance brokerage industry. With a rapidly changing economic environment, and a market marked by continued uncertainty – the value of committing to a plan for scalable growth has become even more important. Mr. Wepler asked the audience, “Where do you want to be in five years? Are you planning to double your business by 2030? If so, what’s your blueprint to get there? What’s your platform for building that plan? Are you a rocket ship or a rowboat?”
Despite a challenging year of slowing organic growth and potentially plateauing valuations – the merger and acquisition (M&A) landscape for this industry continues to accelerate with 2025 poised to deliver perhaps the second or third highest volume year on record.
Keynote speaker Molly Fletcher: Unleash Your Potential
Hailed as the “female Jerry Maguire,” Molly Fletcher made her mark as one of the top sports agents. During her trailblazing career, Molly negotiated over $500 million in contracts and represented some of the biggest names in sports. Today, she is a successful entrepreneur and top keynote speaker, sharing her unique strategies, mindset shifts and daily behaviors that separate top performers from the rest.
At Connect, Molly shared her experiences working with top athletes and how the most successful athletes have been able to sustain that success. “Most people just see the achievements and the highlight reels of successful athletes,” said Molly. “What you don’t see are the moments in between – the habits, the hard work, the self-doubt, the setbacks, and the resilience it takes to keep going.”
Molly emphasized that sustained success isn’t just about talent. The common thread with most of these successful people is something she calls “dynamic drive” – a relentless pursuit to get better. But that drive isn’t reserved for great athletes. For business leaders, the formula is the same. Molly outlined her five-step process for unlocking potential and achieving sustainable success: mindset, curiosity, connection, resilience, and execution.
Molly concluded with, a reminder: “As you consider this pursuit of better, make sure it’s anchored in purpose. It’s not about winning; it’s about getting a little bit better every day.”
MAX Performer Winners
MarshBerry announced the winner of the MAX Performer Award at the Connect Summit – Associated Insurance and Risk Management Advisors!
This industry badge of distinction is awarded to independent insurance agencies and brokerages with gold-star financial performance, operational excellence, and a thriving culture. As a member of MarshBerry’s Connect executive peer exchange for over eight years, Associated has focused on building a culture where leadership, process, and people work in harmony to fuel consistent expansion.
MarshBerry created the MAX Performer Award to recognize exceptional performance and help firms prosper through executive peer networking. MarshBerry selects winners by evaluating firm performance in areas such as growth, perpetuation, profitability, productivity, and company culture.
MarshBerry heartily congratulates the 2025 MAX Performer regional winners:
- East: Hardenbergh Insurance Group, Marlton, NJ
- Midwest: Associated Insurance and Risk Management Advisors, Rolling Meadows, IL
- Southeast: Starke Agency, Inc., Montgomery, AL
- West: Atlas Insurance Agency, Honolulu, HI
- Southwest: Dillingham Insurance, Enid, OK
Real-Time Perspectives: Live Dialogues with Market Movers in Axis
In Axis, a dedicated space at the event, members had access to a unique opportunity to expand their networks beyond their peer groups, engage directly with strategic partners, and access additional thought leadership. This thought leadership included a deep dive into membership performance trends over the past five years, as well as a series of fireside chats with MAX Performer regional winners who shared their best practices and insights for success.
More specifically, the Membership Address offered by Brooke Liu, MarshBerry Senior Vice President, offered a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing insurance firms today by revenue bands, grounded in proprietary MarshBerry data and member-submitted insights. Members analyzed trending data around profitability, perpetuation, productivity, growth, and culture, noting significant evolution in perpetuation metrics like Weighted Average Ownership Age (WAOA) and productivity metrics like Total Commission and Fees (TCF) per Employee for the top third of performing members. The address encourages members to leverage validated data for confident decision-making, set informed goals, and foster internal accountability through actionable next steps and peer collaboration.
While each MAX Performer award recipient shared unique characteristics that paved the way for their prestigious recognition, there were several emerging themes that members took note of for a chance at their own MAX Performer recognition in the future. For example, multiple firms proved you can both grow and be profitable. Firms shared stories about making strategic bets on things like Artificial Intelligence (AI) bots or top talent, and luckily those bets paid off and yielded a handsome Return on Investment (ROI). Multiple winners also recanted pivotal moments and tough conversations within their peer groups that led to intentional, needle-moving initiatives the required the deprioritization of other, lesser important projects in the pursuit of long-term growth and scalability.
Maximize impact: collaboration, networking and optimizing resources
The Connect Summit is thoughtfully designed to amplify the attendee experience through engagement with members and forward-thinking SIG sessions, all aimed at optimizing firm growth. Stepping away from the day-to-day to focus on the business allows for a renewed perspective. United by shared insight and peer collaboration, insurance executives are empowered to amplify their vision, optimize performance, and engage in meaningful action for the future.
Members, save the date for the next Connect Summit being held April 28-30, 2026, in Scottsdale, AZ. If you’re not a member and are interested in learning more about how your firm can out-perform, out-earn, and outlast the competition, contact us today to learn more.
