Incoming Alliant Insurance Services (Alliant) CEO Greg Zimmer (pictured) has a rosy outlook this year for the brokerage industry and his organization.
Speaking to Insurance Business, Zimmer named a stable insurance market and significant growth and expansion plans for Alliant as the reasons for his optimism.
“There are always challenges within a business, but there are relatively more positive opportunities than negative challenges,” Zimmer told Insurance Business. “We think the market will remain stable this year, and that’s good for clients and carriers.
“We don’t envision huge outliers dramatically changing the marketplace that could negatively impact brokers.”
Currently the eighth-largest insurance brokerage in the US, Alliant is also one of the fastest-growing brokerage firms in terms of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Under Zimmer’s leadership, Alliant completed over 100 acquisitions in strategic markets nationwide, growing its employee headcount to nearly 11,000. It remains focused on expanding its reach across its core business lines of property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, underwriting, and personal lines.
Despite a buoyant M&A pipeline, Zimmer said traditional M&A is meant to complement Alliant’s organic growth strategy.
“We certainly buy companies, but where, for many of our competitors, that is their core growth strategy, [M&A] has never been the core growth strategy for Alliant,” he said. “It’s always complemented organic growth.
“Organic growth is where we see most of our growth, including winning new clients, but also top talent in the industry that may be disenfranchised with their current employer.”
Zimmer acknowledged that rising premiums in many product lines last year were a boon for brokers’ income, helping boost Alliant’s business in 2023.
Though he expects that slowing premium growth will impact the market, Zimmer expressed confidence in Alliant’s growth plans, specifically in its focus on attracting and retaining talent.
“Our goal is to have the best people and to combine the best people with fabulous products that we develop either with our insurance carrier partners, or by ourselves, to deliver a better client solution, and we will continue to do that,” said Zimmer.
For Zimmer, attracting top talent is about having the structure within an organization for them to succeed – something that he said Alliant prides itself on. Alliant is a two-time winner of Insurance Business America’s 5-Star Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Award.
“Over the last 25 years, we have built an organization that supports our brokers in many ways, from the proprietary product that we develop to staffing, so they can appropriately serve their client base, providing them ownership opportunities in the company, and providing resources that are a value to them that they can deliver to their clients,” said Zimmer. “As we maintain that environment, we will continue to be the home of choice for top talent acquisition.”
Alliant is undergoing a leadership transition after announcing a slew of changes earlier this month, most notably that Zimmer would take over as chief executive from long-time leader Tom Corbett.
At the same time, Peter Arkley has been named president, national brokerage, overseeing retail property & casualty and employee benefits, and Sean McConlogue has been tapped to lead Alliant underwriting and consumer solutions as president. The new leadership roles will take effect on April 1, 2024.
Peter Arkley also recognized as one of the Leading Insurance Professionals in the USA 2024. Read more in IBA's Hot 100.
Corbett, who has led Alliant for over three decades, will retain his position as the company’s executive chairman.
Zimmer joined Alliant in 1998 as CFO and was named president in 2007. Though he has been with the company, helping steer its growth, for over 25 years, he admitted that his vision for Alliant has remained the same.
“It’s a very simple business plan that is very difficult to execute, which is, if you hire the best people, good things will happen,” Zimmer said. “Our focus is on hiring or acquiring, maintaining, and retaining the top talent in the industry. provide them the resources they need to do their job for their clients and stay out of their way.
“That has been the philosophy and will continue to be the philosophy. We firmly believe this is a people-first business.”
What are your thoughts on Alliant’s growth plans and leadership changes? Tell us in the comments.
