Insurance M&A Pace Down 15% in First Half 2026: OPTIS

Insurance agency mergers & acquisitions in the first six months of 2026 were down 15% compared with the same period last year.

As it did in its first-quarter report, investment banking and financial consulting firm OPTIS Partners said a downward trend in U.S. and Canada M&A activity is “likely near the bottom.”

During the first half 2026 there were 292 insurance agency deals, which was the slowest M&A start for a year since 2016, said OPTIS Partners’ M&A database. Activity in the second quarter 2026 was down 25% to 138 transactions.

“Several of the big, most active buyers over the past several years have significantly cut back activity,” said Steve Germundson, a partner at OPTIS. “But the buying pace has increased for emerging private equity firms and those anticipating a recapitalization or sale in the near future.”

OPTIS said 10 firms accounted for 45% of first-half 2026 deals. Broadstreet Partners led with 37 transactions, followed by Inzone Insurance Services with 33 deals. ALKEME and World Insurance Associates were next with 15 deals apiece.

OPTIS Partners tracks buyers in four groups: private-equity-backed/hybrid buyers, privately held brokers, publicly held brokers, and all others. As shown in the chart of top buyers, only Leavitt Group is privately held. OPTIS said that of the 68 unique buyers in the first half of the year, 37 were private equity, and six announced a deal for the first time.

Typical buyers slowed their pace, including Hub International, Keystone Agency Partners, Broadstreet, and Leavitt.

While the industry “continues to ride down a nearly four-year slide” in M&A volume, OPTIS said a “very large number of firms” will need to sell in the next five to 10 years—though the sellers are smaller “in terms of quantity and quality,” the firm said.

Sellers in the first half were mainly property/casualty agencies, accounting for 198 transaction, or 68% of the total.