Higginbotham is expanding its retirement and wealth management capabilities through a combination with Two West Capital Advisors, giving the Texas-based insurance group an established platform it can take across a larger base of middle-market employers.
The Kansas City specialist will bring its full team and operating platform into Higginbotham’s retirement planning and wealth management division. Two West will remain based in Kansas City and continue serving existing clients, while its employees will become employee-owners of Higginbotham.
For Higginbotham, the combination adds another financial service alongside commercial insurance and employee benefits without having to build the capability from scratch. Two West, in turn, gains access to Higginbotham’s national footprint and business relationships.
“Bringing the Two West team on board immediately takes our capabilities in the retirement planning and wealth management space to another level. They bring an established platform, along with a business philosophy and ideals of service that fit naturally with ours,” said Higginbotham Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid.
The move comes as major US insurance brokerages extend further into retirement and wealth advice, increasing the number of services competing for the same employer relationships.
In June, Alliant launched a dedicated retirement and wealth business designed to connect institutional retirement plan consulting with individual wealth management. Marsh McLennan Agency also added retirement advisory and wealth management capabilities through its acquisition of TriBridge Partners, alongside its employee benefits and property and casualty operations.
US retirement assets stood at $47.6 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026, including $13.8 trillion in employer-based defined contribution plans and $9.9 trillion in 401(k)s, according to the Investment Company Institute.
Two West’s focus on small and middle-market employers is increasingly relevant as the market for smaller retirement plans expands.
Founded in 2010, with client relationships dating back to 2004, Two West serves employers and individual investors. CEO Marko Ungashick said the business was built around providing more specialized retirement plan advice to companies below the largest end of the market.
“I’m the son of entrepreneurs, and I dedicated my career to helping small businesses succeed. When I looked at the 401(k) planning space, I saw a market dominated by generalists, with expertise reserved for the largest clients. We built Two West to bring specialized knowledge and fiduciary responsibility to the middle market—businesses like the one I grew up in,” Ungashick said.
Cerulli Associates found that 57% of defined contribution recordkeepers said between 50% and 99% of plans they sold in 2023 were sold through advisers. It expects the micro 401(k) market, covering plans with less than $5 million in assets, to grow to more than one million plans over the next decade.
Cerulli also expects advisers to make greater use of existing small-business relationships to sell retirement plans, supported by federal and state changes and SECURE 2.0 incentives.
Under SECURE 2.0, eligible employers with 50 or fewer employees can receive a tax credit equal to 100% of qualifying retirement plan startup costs, subject to limits. Many new 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after Dec. 29, 2022 are also subject to automatic-enrollment requirements for plan years beginning after 2024, subject to exemptions, according to the IRS.
That creates a larger potential market for firms already advising small and midsize companies on insurance, benefits and workplace issues.
The expansion also comes as conditions shift in commercial insurance. Average commercial P&C premiums across account sizes declined 2.0% in the second quarter of 2026, according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, following the first overall quarterly decline since 2017 in Q1.
There is no indication that softer pricing drove the Two West combination, but it adds context to the broader push by brokerages to build businesses beyond insurance placement.
Two West will also gain access to Higginbotham’s HR, marketing, legal and compliance infrastructure. All current employees will remain with the business, while the firm is recruiting additional staff.
The result gives Higginbotham another way to deepen its relationships with middle-market employers while placing it alongside other large brokers seeking a broader role in clients’ financial and workplace needs.
