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Linchpins of insurance
The Top Retail Brokers of 2024 have risen to the challenge and earned their place on the prestigious list.
Insurance Business America undertook a nationwide search for the top performers, who had to satisfy a series of criteria:
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at least $1 million in premium revenue in 2023
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at least 50 percent commercial P&C business
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demonstrated year-over-year growth from 2022
The special status of Platinum Broker was awarded to those who exceeded $4 million in 2023 revenue.
The trends from last year show that 2024’s top retail insurance brokers have had to be even more efficient and prove themselves further, illustrated by the 15 percent increase in the number of winners who operate in all 50 states.
City/State: Pleasant Hill, CA
Total commission revenue growth: 5 percent
Specialized areas: Construction, Real Estate, Distribution
The 30-year veteran puts his success down to adaptability.
“It’s not coming with a predetermined answer but really figuring out where they need help and then designing a program that fits what they need to do. On any given day, I could be talking to a nonprofit, a large contractor or even a bar owner. The answer is not going to be the same.”
Callaway primarily targets a segment of the market:
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business with under 100 employees
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firms where the owner has a large degree of direct control
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entities who will benefit from his network
He has managed to last so long in the industry using his expertise as a broker.
“I try to position myself as their outsource risk management department. They probably are not big enough that they’re going to hire a full-blown department to do that,” explains Callaway. “They may have questions along the lines of safety, HR, risk control, fleet management, contracts and whatever it is, I’m their first calI. If I don’t have the answer, I find the resource to get it.”
This ensures clients have a one-stop shop and know that Callaway has a network that he can tap into when necessary.
“My unique value proposition is to be a client advisor and offer a broader array of services rather than the agent down the street who’s only selling a policy,” he says.
What resonates with Callaway is being able to connect directly with owners. He offers advice on things in their business he may notice but also appreciates they are fully invested.
“I’m pretty comfortable dealing with the entrepreneurs of the world, people that are willing and able to make their own decisions and make them fast. When I tell them about a policy, they either give me the money or they take it home.”
This approach works well in California, which is the biggest state by GDP and has an abundance of business owners per capita.
“Most of my competitors view their job to sell insurance. Once they do, they’re not going to talk to you for another 300 days. With me, the day you buy the insurance is the date we start working together”
Steve CallawayAcrisure West
Over the past 18 months, Callaway’s firm has grown since he joined Acrisure in 2017. Following some restructuring, he now focuses on Northern California. Not that he needed any more motivation.
“It’s enabled us to bring more services and streamline our operation for our clients, so everybody got reenergized and started selling more insurance. Did that necessarily happen to me? In all honesty, probably not because I do it every year. It’s just the nature of being a competitive person. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do this right.”
Callaway took the business over from his father and began developing his own support staff to allow the business to have an identity away from him. He has placed more emphasis on coaching, so he doesn’t have to touch every client.
City/State: Jackson, MS
Total commission revenue growth: 31 percent
Specialized areas: Public Entities, Manufacturing, Non-Profit Organizations, Construction/Surety
Getting out of the comfort zone ensures razor sharpness.
That is Johnson’s mindset, which he describes as “total quality management.” It entails making a concerted effort to keep pushing the envelope.
The senior executive vice president’s structure is directed at:
At the start of his career, he would spend his weekends on the road in build a name.
He says, “You have to drive on writing new business every year because if you don’t, you’re unfamiliar with the marketplace and the competition. It’s a must to figure out how the insurance industry is evolving. If you’re not, in my opinion you’re losing focus.”
Johnson is reaping the rewards of building such a sterling reputation.
“I’ve spent 18 years making phone calls and knocking on doors. If you develop a reputation for always providing solutions and doing what you say you’re going to do, people will reach out. Word travels and I’ve been blessed in that regard, as I’ve always been honest and transparent.”
This is compounded by Mississippi being a relatively sparse market compared to the likes of California and Texas.
“I’ve got a lot of runway left and God willing, another 15 years left in this business, but everything has a product lifecycle. Hopefully, I continue because I’m still motivated, and mentally and emotionally invested in what I’m doing.”
A strategy that Johnson has adopted is to target clients focused on their future. This enables him to work with companies as a partner.
He comments, “I believe in long-term investments and if the mindset is to do something different, or to change brokers and insurance companies every year, then that’s not a good fit.”
Ensuring there is a meeting of ambitions and goals is the foundation for Johnson’s success.
He puts a premium on delivering results rather than signing new clients.
“When I wake up on the first of January every year, I say, ‘How do I do better than I did last year in this industry?’”
Brian JohnsonFisher Brown Bottrell
“It’s not about how many accounts there are. It’s the quality of results that you’re providing to your customer,” comments Johnson. “I would rather have one customer where I have transformed their business, improved their profitability and offered them insurance protection that saved them from enormous heartaches, rather than having 10 customers and it just being a transaction.”
Another accomplishment is Johnson’s success in becoming a role model and championing the need for greater diversity in the insurance industry.
Out of university, he was hired into the management program at Trustmark Bank and a two-month rotation at the Bottrell Agency, which led him to embark on a broking career.
“Trustmark took a chance on a young African American male and I don’t think a privately owned agency would have hired me back then. Hopefully, I will continue to be an illustration for other people to say, insurance is universal and not just for one particular type of person or gender.”
Scroll down to get to know the top retail insurance brokers of 2024.
- Alka Manaktala
Managing Partner
IOA Insurance - Bob Middleton
Director, Arts Insurance Program
Maury, Donnelly and Parr - Brandon Cooney
Chief Operating Officer
Capital Gate Insurance - Brian Gilberg
Vice President
Acrisure - Brian Schneider
Managing Director
Higginbotham - Brigitte Egbert
Managing Principal
Acrisure - Carlos Chinchilla
Executive Vice President
Acrisure - Chase Carlisle
Energy Practice Leader
Acrisure - Chip Renno, CIC, ARM, CRM, CPIA
Commercial P&C Agent/Agency Principal
Snellings Walters Insurance Agency - Dave Wissel
Client Advisor and Partner
Acrisure - David McKinnon
Executive Vice President
FBBInsurance - Edward Nagel
Energy Practice Leader
Acrisure - Garet Marr
Regional Managing Director
Franklin Street - Greg Tober
Executive Vice President
Acrisure - Gregory W. Havemeier
Client Advisor Partner
Acrisure - Hiroki Baba
Vice President and Japanese Practice Leader
The J. Morey Company - Hunter Cox
Executive Vice President
FBBInsurance - James Singleton
Assistant Vice President
The Glatfelter Agency - Jason Hollis
Executive Vice President
FBBInsurance - Jason Young
Senior Vice President
FBBInsurance - Jeff Mentel
Principal
AssuredPartners - Jeffrey Sanders
Client Advisor and Partner
Acrisure - Jim Untiedt
Construction Practice Leader
Acrisure - Joe Thompson
Client Advisor/Partner
Acrisure - John Baldwin
Construction Insurance and Bond Consultant
FBBInsurance - John Sirabella Jr.
Senior Vice President, Client Advisor, New York Region
Acrisure - John Henry Ward
Agency President
AssuredPartners - Justin Failoni
Senior Vice President
Acrisure - Karl Henley
Executive Vice President
SeibertKeck Insurance Partners - Kenneth Christian
Vice President/Producer
Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance - Kevin Turner
Vice President
Acrisure - Kirk Aguilera
Managing Partner, National Workers’ Compensation Practice Leader
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers - Kyle Schielack
Managing Director
Higginbotham - Marcus Eagan
Vice President
Eagan Insurance - Matt Armstrong
Senior Vice President
FBBInsurance - Matt Bevins
Agency President
AssuredPartners - Michael Malinowski
President and CEO
EHD - Mitch Noguchi
President
Noguchi & Associates - Nick Wichmanowski
Client Advisor and Partner
Acrisure - Nick Rallo
Principal
AssuredPartners - Paul Praxmarer
Executive Vice President
AssuredPartners - Paul Zizzo
SE Transportation Practice Leader
Acrisure - Phillip Masi
Agency President
AssuredPartners - Rob Foote
Risk Advisor
Acrisure - Robert McLendon
Executive Vice President
FBBInsurance - Ruben Medina
Commercial Producer
Acrisure - Ryan Moses
Managing Partner
Acrisure - Ryan Schmidt
Area President and Partner
Acrisure - Sam Sackler
Senior Vice President
FBBInsurance - Sean King
Agent
Acrisure - Steven Payne
Agency Managing Partner
Insurance Placement Alternatives - Timothy Spear
Client Advisor, Partner
Acrisure - Tony Bozzuto
Partner
Bozzuto Insurance Services - Trevor Gilstrap
Senior Vice President
AssuredPartners - Walter Kiyota
Producer
Noguchi & Associates - Will Denbo
President
Commercial Insurance Associates - Zachary Fanberg
Managing Director
Eagan Insurance
PLATINUM PRODUCERS
- Brian Schneider
Managing Director
Higginbotham - Chase Carlisle
Energy Practice Leader
Acrisure - Edward Nagel
Energy Practice Leader
Acrisure - Gregory W. Havemeier
Client Advisor Partner
Acrisure - Joe Thompson
Client Advisor/Partner
Acrisure - Justin Failoni
Senior Vice President
Acrisure - Michael Malinowski
President and CEO
EHD - Paul Praxmarer
Executive Vice President
AssuredPartners - Phillip Masi
Agency President
AssuredPartners - Rob Foote
Risk Advisor
Acrisure - Will Denbo
President
Commercial Insurance Associates
