Marsh Agency, the US middle-market brokerage unit of Marsh, has merged its East and Northeast regions and appointed Andrew Neary (pictured) as chief executive of the combined business, effective immediately.
The new East region has around 1,400 staff and covers New York, New Jersey, New England and the wider US Northeast. Neary, who has led the former East region for five years, will be based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. He will oversee client service, sales and operations, and according to Marsh's announcement, he has also been tasked with simplifying the operating model and combining talent and resources from the two legacy regions.
Jerry Alderman, who was chief executive of the Northeast region, has left the company, Marsh has confirmed.
Neary will continue to report to Matt Stadler, president of Marsh Agency. Stadler said the merger would give clients a deeper bench of industry specialists and in-house capabilities while keeping the structures and relationships they already have.
"Under Andrew's leadership, the East region built one of the strongest operating models and cultures in our business," Stadler said.
Neary's background is in employee benefits. He became chief executive of the East business in 2021, when its founders stepped down. Before that, he ran its employee health and benefits practice, and he had been part of its leadership team for 16 years. He has more than 25 years of experience in employee benefits and began his career at Mercer.
His remit now covers a much larger property and casualty and benefits operation across some of the most competitive middle-market territory in the US.
The regional merger is the latest in a series of leadership changes at the business formerly known as Marsh McLennan Agency. Last month, Marsh named Stadler chief executive of Marsh Agency from January 1, 2027. He will succeed David Eslick, who has led the unit since its founding in 2009 and will become chairman. John Stanchina, currently CEO of the Mid-Atlantic region, will take over from Stadler as president, and Guy Morrison will succeed Stanchina in the Mid-Atlantic.
According to Marsh, Marsh Agency has acquired more than 100 agencies since 2009 and now generates more than $5 billion in annual revenue. The unit is also in the middle of rebranding from Marsh McLennan Agency. Most of those changes began in September and will continue through 2027.
Marsh says clients will keep the structures and relationships they know. Still, when a broker of this size merges regions to simplify its operating model, the effects tend to reach beyond its own staff. Carriers and wholesalers that worked with a separate Northeast leadership team will now deal with a single regional operation. Producers across the region may see changes in how specialist support and resources are allocated.
The move also fits a wider pattern among the largest acquisitive brokers. After years of buying regional agencies, they are increasingly folding them into fewer, larger units that can share specialist expertise and remove duplicate management.
For independent agencies competing for middle-market accounts between Maine and Pennsylvania, the result is a bigger and more centrally run competitor.
