To The Point: A MarshBerry Video Series

2024 M&A Trends Reveal Strategic Shifts in Specialty Distribution

March 26, 2025

A stark change emerged in the M&A landscape for specialty insurance distribution firms in 2024. While the total number of transactions dropped significantly, this was not due to a lack of buyer interest.

Instead, buyer demand remains exceptionally strong, particularly in sectors like wholesale brokerage, MGAs, MGUs, and program administrators. The real challenge? A limited supply of sellers, which has created a highly competitive acquisition environment.

Key Market Highlights

Fewer Deals, Not Less Interest

There were just 120 publicly announced transactions in 2024—a 33% decrease from the record-breaking 181 deals in 2023. Despite the slowdown in volume, buyer activity continues at a healthy pace.

Demand Outpaces Supply

Buyers are aggressively pursuing acquisition opportunities, but fewer firms are coming to market. This imbalance is pushing firm valuations higher and making quality targets harder to find.

Valuations Reach New Heights

Valuations are up more than 35% compared to 2020, fueled by strong demand and a tight seller landscape. Competitive tension continues to elevate deal pricing.

MarshBerry Leads the Way

MarshBerry continues to be the #1 sell-side advisor in the specialty distribution space, guiding firms through complex market dynamics with strategic insights and trusted relationships.

What This Means for Your Firm

If you’re considering a strategic partnership or exploring your options in today’s market, now may be an ideal time to evaluate your position. MarshBerry offers the experience, data, and relationships to help you unlock full value from your business.

Video Transcription

Hello, my name is Peter Kampf, Vice President of MarshBerry and I am excited to tell you a bit about what we saw in 2024 in the M&A marketplace for specialty insurance distribution firms.

Just so we’re all on the same page here, when I say specialty distribution firms, I’m referring to wholesale brokers, MGAs, MGUs, and program administrators, essentially any firm that typically sits between a financial advisor or retail broker and the ultimate insurance carrier.

For these firms in 2024, MarshBerry was proud to remain the number one sell side advisor despite operating in a changing marketplace. Specifically, in 2024, we saw a new trend with a stark decrease in M&A transaction values for specialty firms. Coming off an all-time high in 2023 with 181 publicly announced transactions, we saw about a 33% decline in 2024, down to 120 total announced transactions. That said, don’t take this trend at face value. This is not a result of buyers starting to lose interest in the space. In fact, buyer demand for specialty insurance firms remains very robust. However, we did see this demand significantly outpace seller supply this last year. On the bright side, some of this scarcity in seller supply did help drive new all-time high valuations for specialty firms with 2024 valuations on average being up over 35% higher than valuations just a few years ago in 2020.

If you’d like to learn more about these trends or hear about how MarshBerry could be a resource to you or your firm, we do encourage you to reach out. Until then, thank you for your time.

MarshBerry is a global leader in investment banking and consulting services, specializing in the insurance brokerage and wealth management sectors. If your firm seeks expert advisory guidance to refine your business strategies, drive sustainable growth, or facilitate a sale, MarshBerry is the ideal partner to support you in making these critical business decisions. Collaborating with a trusted advisor who deeply understands your business and the industry can help you maximize value at every stage of ownership.

July 25, 2025