Mergers and acquisitions were among big stories last year and they continued to catch the attention of readers in 2025.
The three largest insurance brokers — March, Aon and Arthur J. Gallagher — announced or closed multi-billion-dollar acquisitions in 2024. Within the last 12 months, insurance M&A remained a hot topic.
But M&A was one of many topics readers of Insurance Journal clicked on and shared this year. Others included: numerous broker-poaching lawsuits; third-party litigation funding; the affect of tariffs on the insurance industry; John Neal’s fall; the Federal Emergency Management Agency and national flood insurance; sharing of driver data; ongoing J&J talc product liability; cyber breaches; and the sunset of the Safeco brand.
The Top National Insurance Journal Stories for 2025
Brown & Brown to Acquire Risk Strategies, One80 Parent for $9.8 Billion
Surely the size of this deal was among the reasons this headline received many clicks. In June Brown & Brown Inc. said it entered into an agreement to buy Accession Risk Management, the parent company of specialty brokerage firm Risk Strategies and wholesaler One80 Intermediaries, for about $9.8 billion. Accession Risk Management Group ranked 8th on Insurance Journal‘s 2025 Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agencies list.
There were many other deals, such as Baldwin Group’s recent buy of CAC Group for about $1.03 billion consists of $438 million in cash and 23.2 million shares of its stock valued at $589 million. The Baldwin Group ranked ninth on Insurance Journal‘s list of Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agencies.
Trucordia and World Insurance Associates were very active in 2025. Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) picked up agencies scattered over the U.S. Also see WTW’s late 2025 acquisition of Newfront in a deal worth $1.3 billion. South Korea’s DB Insurance Co. agreed to buy US specialty insurer Fortegra Group for $1.65 billion.
M&A wasn’t limited to agencies and brokerages. AIG acquired Everest’s retail commercial insurance renewal rights, and it had a joint acquisition of Convex Group with Onex Corp. In August, Sompo Holdings said a subsidiary acquired Aspen Insurance Holdings for about $3.5 billion to further its geographical reach outside of its home territory.
Aon, Marsh, WTW, and Brown & Brown Sue Howden’s New US Retail Broking Business
Howden US was not the only brokerage to be sued on allegations of poaching, theft of trade secrets, and breaches of contract but it certainly is the latest. Interestingly, according to court documents, Howden had tried to buy Risk Strategies (actually, this too was a top story of 2025). When it couldn’t work a deal, it allegedly went ahead with it’s U.S. invasion by allegedly scheming to take employees of competitors. The newest of the lawsuits is one filed by Brown & Brown, who allege over 200 employees were lured away.
As Mike Parrish was being introduced as the CEO of Howden US, his old employer Marsh filed suit against him and three others. Marsh followed with another suit against seven additional former employees, and it sued a former specialty marine head. All former employees left for Howden US.