2025 was marked by a number of high-profile insurance industry mergers and acquisitions. Headlines highlighted deals valued at $1 billion and higher, creating quite a bit of fervor around insurance growth potential. Yet 2025 was also marked by a decline in the number of insurance industry deals announced, complicating the expectation that 2026 would be a landmark year for agencies of all sizes. Today, we’ll assess how the insurance M&A market is shaping up for 2026, and what it means for your small to mid-sized agency.
Publicity Isn’t Always the Goal
When we’re talking about the total number of announced deals in the insurance industry, we’re talking about buyers who incorporate press releases into their M&A strategy. These days, many buyers choose not to make public announcements about their recent acquisitions, even when they’re high-value. This can reflect a competitive strategy or simply a desire to maintain a lower profile while building out their portfolio. In either case, the number of deals overall is higher than the number of announced deals.
Past Mergers Impact Supply
The insurance industry has seen increased M&A activity since 2021. With so many deals brokered over the last five years, the supply of insurance agencies yet to be acquired is starting to thin out. New insurance agencies are certainly entering the field, but it will take at least a few years before they reach a level of stabilization and value that is appealing to buyers. Until then, we anticipate a competitive landscape with fewer sellers, which could intimidate some mid-sized buyers.
Demand Has Shifted (Not Disappeared)
We saw that explosion of deals in 2021 after five steady years of increasing demand. Fortunately, there is still plenty of demand for insurance agency M&As, particularly from powerful buyers. However, those high-profile deals of 2025 have combined some of the most powerful buyers, which could lead to a changing strategy moving forward. We expect these agencies to focus on integration in the coming years, rather than continued aggregation.
What This Means for Springtree Group Buyer and Sellers
So far, we’ve talked primarily about high-profile deals from high-profile buyers. In fact, the majority of the agencies that have been acquired in the last five years have been firms with over $5 million in revenue.
At Springtree Group, we specialize in lateral mergers and acquisitions between agencies valued at less than $5 million. This is an often-overlooked sector of the industry because it can be so difficult for small and mid-sized agencies to qualify for the funding they need to grow their portfolios—something we make possible with our own funding resources.
The supply of small to mid-sized insurance agencies hasn’t been hit nearly as hard as the larger firms. While buyers wait for newly developed firms to grow, they’re likely to turn to this supply of smaller agencies to expand their market areas and verticals. If you’re looking to take advantage of this predicted shift or simply assess what your selling options are, contact us today.
