Creative Planning has announced the acquisition of Lovell Insurance Group, a commercial insurance brokerage specializing in complex commercial insurance, surety and risk management solutions.
As part of the transaction, John Lovell, Mike Pernice and Georgia Williams have joined the Creative Planning team. Neither firm disclosed Lovell's premium volume, revenue or headcount, so the deal's precise scale is not yet public.
Lovell Insurance Group, founded to deliver boutique-level service with national reach, built its reputation serving upper middle-market businesses in Kansas City and across the country, differentiated by its technical expertise, risk management approach and client service.
Creative Planning President and CEO Peter Mallouk said: "John, Mike and Georgia have built an outstanding business by putting clients first and delivering exceptional expertise in commercial insurance. We're excited to welcome them to Creative Planning. Their experience, integrity and commitment to service align perfectly with our culture, and together we'll be able to provide business owners with an even more comprehensive, coordinated approach to managing risk and achieving their long-term financial goals."
Lovell, for his part, framed the deal around what his clients gain rather than what his firm brings. John Lovell, now partner and director of Sales, Commercial Insurance at Creative Planning, said: "Lovell has always excelled in complex commercial insurance and risk management. By joining forces with Creative Planning, we're now able to deliver even greater value through their outstanding insurance capabilities, deep resources, and exceptional production and service talent already within the firm.
The deal adds commercial insurance to a business advisory platform Creative Planning has been assembling for years, one that already spans accounting, tax, legal, M&A, technology, payroll, retirement and wealth management services.
Overland Park, Kansas-based Creative Planning manages roughly $710 billion in client assets under management and advisement, and Lovell Insurance Group, founded in 2017 and based in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit, Missouri, is its latest addition to that model. The acquisition is not Creative Planning's first foray into insurance-adjacent services. In 2021, the firm acquired the retirement plan business of Lockton in a deal that added $110 billion in assets and saw Lockton take an equity stake in Creative Planning.
Mallouk has said Creative Planning tightens its acquisition criteria as its footprint grows, acquiring only 2% to 3% of the roughly 150 to 300 firms he speaks with in a given year.
That selectivity comes against a record wealth management M&A backdrop, with Echelon Partners reporting 142 RIA transactions in the first quarter of 2026 alone, the highest quarterly total on record. It also runs counter to that market's usual direction: insurance brokerages and benefits consultants, including NFP and Lockton, have historically been the more frequent acquirers of retirement and wealth advisory practices, drawn to cross-sell potential, but MarshBerry has noted that pattern beginning to reverse as wealth-focused platforms increasingly acquire insurance distribution businesses outright to deepen client wallet share.
Surety underwriting, one of Lovell's core specialties and a driver of the deal's technical appeal to Creative Planning, is itself in a healthy stretch heading into 2026.
Data compiled from the Surety and Fidelity Association of America shows the industry's largest writers posted losses of about $2.3 billion last year, for a loss ratio of roughly 23.2%. Contractor backlogs for large infrastructure projects hit a two-year high in 2025, with data centers now a meaningful share of new work, even as tariff-driven material cost increases, in some cases nearing 50% according to the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, have added underwriting complexity that rewards specialized brokers like Lovell.
