Woodruff Sawyer, one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the US, is celebrating its 100th birthday. The San Francisco-based firm has built a reputation over the past century as a complex risk specialist in areas like D&O, property, technology, life science and securities litigation.
According to CEO Andy Barrengos (pictured), of about 44,000 insurance brokerage firms in the country, Woodruff Sawyer is one of only two remaining privately-held and independently-run brokerages that is 100-years or older and has $100 million or more in revenues. If you disregard the 100-years or older, there are currently just 11 privately-held and independently-run brokerages with $100 million or more in revenues in the US at the moment.
“The US insurance market has a very small ecosystem of truly independent but well-scaled brokerage firms. Woodruff Sawyer is unique, and that goes back to our strategy of targeting complex and highly specialized risk problems,” said Barrengos. “The reason we like complex risk accounts is because they’re the buyers and risk managers that truly understand the value of what we do, meaning our expertise and specialization. That focus also attracts the right kind of talent we want to go and solve those risks – so it’s a wonderfully self-fulfilling ecosystem.”
As such a well-credentialled, scaled and specialized firm, Woodruff Sawyer presents a very attractive proposition for prospective buyers. Interest in the brokerage is “never-ending,” according to Barrengos, but he said there’s absolutely “no plan, no desire and no strategy” to sell the company any time soon.
“A lot of people who work for Woodruff Sawyer, certainly most of our leaders and those with the longest tenures, have either worked at big brokerages or big insurance companies before coming here,” Barrengos told Insurance Business. “In our hearts, we truly believe that we can be a better place for people to work and a better advisory firm for clients if we continue to remain private. Why is that? Because the minute you sell, three things inevitably happen to your business.
“The first is that a very small number of people make a whole lot of money. The second thing that happens is you lose control of our business, and finally, over time you lose your culture. I don’t believe there are any exceptions to those three rules – and that’s not a future we envision for ourselves at Woodruff Sawyer.”
Rather than selling, Barrengos is steering the brokerage through a period of aggressive and sustained investment. The goal is to deepen and broaden the firm’s expertise and resources in new and existing risks and industry sectors.
“Our feeling is that if we continue to invest in the business and we continue to evolve and adapt to a challenging and ever-changing environment, then we will continue to be a strong solution for clients and an attractive place for people to work,” he added. “The economics of the business work in such a way that we can be successful in perpetuity. So that’s our mission and that’s my passion. Is it possible that one day we might have to sell? Sure, a lot of things are possible. But we don’t plan on it and we’re not taking any meetings.”
