Amid intense consolidation, continued technological advances, and changing macroeconomic conditions, Harrison Brooks believes that privately held brokers are more valuable than ever–if they’re doing the right things and growing their business in the right ways.
During a recent InsurBanc webinar, Brooks, partner at Reagan Consulting Inc., said that in a softening rate environment with pressure against them, brokers must find ways to organically grow their business.
“If you’re going to remain privately held and continue to compete, you have to lean in on the technology side,” Brooks said. “You have to be thinking about the tools that are available to you–many of which are off the shelf–to improve the performance of your agency. And the customer experience has to be different than what it was even a year ago [or] two years ago.”
That message comes as the average organic growth rate for independent agencies and brokers slows. A recent Reagan Consulting growth and profitability survey found average organic growth declined from a peak of 11.2% in the second quarter of 2023 to 7.1% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“What this signals to me, in a softening P&C environment, I would bet that organic growth is going to continue to go down,” Brooks said. “Meaning, I don’t think this is going to reverse trend and we’re going to tick back up and brokers will be at 10% organic growth next year. I think we have some headwinds in the rate environment.”
Still, Brooks said he remains “incredibly bullish” on the independent agent distribution channel. The industry has repeatedly proven its resilience, he added, “and I think that’s what we will do in the face of a soft market, AI and technology disruption and change.”
Brooks did say “there is a flight to quality and size” and that investors want to buy middle market, commercial, or benefits operations. Some buyers are hesitant to buy personal lines operations because of the threat of AI disruption, he said.
He also noted that while announced merger and acquisition deal volume fell to an 11-year low in 2025, pricing has remained strong. Between 2023 and 2025, guaranteed EBITDA multiples ranged from just under 10x for smaller deals to roughly 15x for the largest transactions.
At the same time, competitive threats are accelerating, and new strategies are needed to retain and motivate talent, Brooks said.
To retain employees, Brooks encouraged agencies to spread ownership according to value creation, expand the percent of value creator participation in equity-like rewards, and ensure contracts include enforceable economic penalties.
When it comes to tech, Brooks said brokers who emphasize technology will separate from the pack. In a collaborative study with BrokerTech Ventures, Reagan surveyed top producers from nine Top 100 brokers and found that tech-enabled producers consistently generate more new business and operate more efficiently.
Among producers under age 35, 82% were considered tech-enabled and generated a median of $172,000 in new commissions in 2024, compared with $104,000 for their non-tech-enabled peers. For producers 35 and older, about 45% were tech-enabled. Those producers generated a median of $358,000 in new business, compared with $281,000 for those who were not.
AI adoption remains uneven. Reagan’s recent Best Practices Study found just 11.5% of firms with less than $1.25 million invested in AI in 2025, compared with 84.2% of larger brokers with more than $100 million in revenue.
“This needs to be 84% to 100% across the board for our distribution channel–the independent agent and broker–to be able to thrive,” Brooks said. “Agents powered by technology is a winning and dynamic combination. Agents not powered by technology and doing things the same way we’ve done them for the past five years is a losing proposition.”
Brooks’ presentation also highlighted other ways brokers can punch above their weight, including specialization and leveraging best practices. A recording of the webinar is available on the Insurbanc YouTube page.
Topics Trends InsurTech Agencies Tech Pricing Trends
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