Insurance M&A spiked in 2021, and leading the pack – for the second year in a row, according to industry analytics provider Sica | Fletcher – was Acrisure. An unwavering focus on healthy partnerships and value creation has led the firm to be the fastest-growing broker in the history of the industry, according to Greg Williams (pictured above), co-founder, president and CEO.
WIlliams’ leadership of the company, which he launched in 2005, led to his induction in the Insurance Business America Hall of Fame for 2021.
Acrisure has created a business model that prioritizes growth while keeping disruption to a minimum, Williams told IBA.
“Historically, insurance M&A has been a very disruptive process, with the negative impact on the acquired company often ignored,” Williams said. “The ensuing chaos can deeply damage the employer-and-employee relationship and, just as important, can disenfranchise clients – an unwanted outcome for all constituents. We saw a huge opportunity to offer a better alternative and have been very successful as a result.”
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Acrisure emphasizes alignment of interests in its M&A activities – and maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit by keeping client decisions at the local level. That philosophy allowed the company to grow revenues from $38 million to more than $3 billion in just over eight years – a compound annual growth rate of 67%.
“Our partners are bold, resilient, and understand the power of the customer,” Williams said. “Unlike many companies, Acrisure recognizes the power of human relationships and the many ways technology can make us more efficient and effective. The opportunity to expand our audience and accelerate the pace in which we win new business is real – but it takes both technology and humans to make this happen. Our results demonstrate the winning strategy is through this combination.”
Before co-founding Acrisure, Williams was an investor and board advisor to a variety of companies and served as a vice president at Michigan National Corporation, a bank holding company.
