A big portion of success comes from recognizing not only your gifts, but also your inefficiencies. It’s what led Tim Cunningham from a satisfactory role as an insurance agency producer to a significantly accomplished career in merger and acquisition advisory – and it’s also what lets him know that ongoing consolidation in the space may actually benefit the industry.
Cunningham, now co-founder and managing director with insurance consulting service OPTIS Partners, claimed his role in the industry as a birthright. Born to a family that owned an insurance agency in suburban Chicago, Cunningham received his degree in business administration from Lewis University before going to work for his family as a producer.
Though he enjoyed the work, particularly building relationships with clients, he began to feel that his true calling lay elsewhere in the industry.
“I was probably an okay producer – but the classic salesperson is maybe not my cup of tea,” Cunningham said. “I enjoyed it, but I think I realized it wasn’t my best skillset. What makes me a good consultant and advisor is different from what makes a good producer.”
In 1987, he sold his interest in the agency to his brother before deciding to try his hand at what is now Hales & Associates, one of two prominent boutique consulting and M&A advisory firms at the time. Cunningham didn’t see consulting as much more than a way-stop when he joined, but something clicked.
“I came on thinking it would be a good place to hang out, and find some opportunities to buy a firm or buy into a firm,” he said. “And then I found I enjoyed the consulting M&A advisory business and stayed through 1997.”
At that point, Cunningham had begun discussing launching a new advisory entity with three other colleagues. He spent some time operating as a solo consultant from his home, before OPTIS Partners was formally founded in 2002.
A good majority of his clients followed him.
“It was a personal relationship business then,” Cunningham said, “and it still is today.”
Cunningham and OPTIS have enjoyed significant success since the launch, developing a solid reputation in the industry by engaging corporate development teams with active buyer groups and playing a straightforward, objective hand with clients.
The company has certainly kept busy in recent years, as a combination of aging industry professionals and plentiful capital has continued to spark consolidation among agencies and brokerages. Cunningham expects this trend to last as well, potentially shrinking the agency space 20% to 30% in the next 20 years.
That may spook some industry members, but Cunningham believes the market is robust and healthy.
“There are a handful of inefficiencies in the insurance distribution system that consolidation will strip out,” he said. “It’s a natural progression – part of the life cycle, not a big, terrible thing. If you have the same number of people in the industry, what difference does it make?”
And Cunningham is certainly invested in building a future for the industry. After more than 25 years working the space, he says he can confidently say the best part of a career in insurance is the people.
“Just by and large, the industry is populated by nice people,” he said. “I’ve really been impressed with the quality and the character of the people I meet and know.”
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