Top insurance brokers, No. 3: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

2024 brokerage revenue: $11.08B
Percent increase: 14.2%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. experienced another year of double-digit growth, with its brokerage revenue surpassing $10 billion for the first time.

The No. 3-ranked brokerage continued to grow organically in addition to expanding through dozens of acquisitions.

The deals continue apace in 2025, though its biggest-ever acquisition, the proposed $13.45 billion purchase of AssuredPartners Inc., has been delayed pending an antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department.

The deal, announced in December, was expected to close in the first quarter. It will likely go through later this year, according to the company’s top executive and outside experts.

Gallagher reported $11.08 billion in brokerage revenue in 2024, a 14.2% increase over 2023. The brokerage reported 7% organic growth for the year, which accelerated to 9% in the first quarter of 2025.

Gallagher aims to maintain mid- to high single-digit organic growth as the market evolves into “many cycles within a cycle,” with rate changes fluctuating based on the line of business and loss experience, said Chairman and CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr.

The brokerage also continued its decades-long acquisition strategy, completing 48 last year and another 11 in the first quarter.

Among the larger deals was the $1.2 billion purchase of brokerage Woodruff Sawyer, completed in April 2025, which adds approximately $270 million in revenue. San Francisco-based Woodruff Sawyer specializes in directors and officers liability, professional liability and other financial lines.

“They’ve got a very good presence in that market, one that we think is going to help bolster us significantly,” Mr. Gallagher said.

The deal brings another well-respected brokerage to Gallagher, adding more business in a still favorable economic environment, said Meyer Shields, Baltimore-based managing director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.

“They are performing phenomenally well,” Shields said.

The proposed purchase of AssuredPartners, the ninthlargest broker of U.S. business, is expected to increase revenue by nearly $3 billion. The transaction was delayed in March because of a request from the Justice Department for more information.

Gallagher remains confident that no antitrust issues will jeopardize the deal and expects it to close in the second half of 2025, Mr. Gallagher said.

The regulators are “doing their job,” he said. “Given that Marsh was able to do McGriff and Aon was able to do NFP without any questions, we were surprised, but again, they’re doing their job.”

“I think the market expects them to close this transaction,” said C. Gregory Peters, managing director-equity research at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Given the number of brokerages in the U.S., there appears to be little likelihood that the deal would significantly dilute competition, said Mr. Shields of KBW.

If successful, the purchase of AssuredPartners could accelerate Gallagher’s overall acquisition strategy. AssuredPartners has acquired hundreds of smaller brokerages, with a focus on companies that Gallagher had not considered as acquisition targets, Mr. Gallagher said.

“I would love to see us go from 50 to 150 acquisitions a year,” he said.

Given that AssuredPartners was built through multiple acquisitions, it will likely cost more to integrate, which may have been a factor in the comparatively moderate price of 13.5 times earnings, said Mr. Peters of Raymond James.

“One of the things that Gallagher is really good at is bringing together companies that they’ve acquired and putting them on their platform,” he said.

Other recent acquisitions include Aspera Sigorta ve Reasürans Brokerliği A.Ş. in Turkey.

Gallagher will continue to look for international expansion opportunities, Mr. Gallagher said. “It’ll happen organically,” he said. Among its past acquisitions, Gallagher’s purchase of Willis Towers Watson PLC’s reinsurance business four years ago is enhancing its retail business as its various divisions share information and data, he said.

The unit continues to perform well despite a downturn in reinsurance pricing, Mr. Peters said.

“It’s really catapulted them to one of the top three reinsurance brokers in the market,” he said.