The dealmaking engine that reshaped independent distribution for a decade has downshifted — but it has not stopped.
OPTIS Partners, the investment bank that tracks North American insurance-agency M&A more rigorously than any other firm in the sector, counted 292 announced transactions in the first half of 2026. That is 15% fewer than the 342 recorded in the same stretch of 2025 and the weakest first-half showing since 2016, according to Insurance Business America and Insurance Journal. The trailing 12-month tally settled at 646 deals — a level not seen since early 2019 — while Q2 alone came in at 138 closings, off 25% year on year.
The deceleration is not mysterious. MarshBerry points to three converging headwinds: a higher-for-longer rate environment that raises the cost of acquisition financing, slower organic growth at many platforms, and mounting integration fatigue as large buyers digest years of rapid roll-up. The firm tracked private-capital-backed buyers above 70% of announced brokerage transactions through the first half — a share that has barely moved even as raw deal counts fell.
The biggest platforms stepped back the hardest
The retreat is concentrated at the top. AgencyEquity, citing OPTIS Partners data, reported that Hub International, Keystone Agency Partners, HighStreet Partners, and Acrisure each cut first-half acquisition volume by more than 50% compared with H1 2025. Insurance Business America added that Hub's trailing-12-month pace was down 47%, Acrisure's off 31%, and Patriot Growth Insurance Services and Alera Group each contracting between 31% and 69%.
The buyers still writing checks are mostly newer or mid-sized PE-backed firms. Agency Checklists and OPTIS Partners reported that BroadStreet Partners led all buyers with 37 first-half transactions, followed by Inszone Insurance Services at 33 and ALKEME and World Insurance Associates at 15 apiece — all four PE-backed. Steve Germundson, a partner at OPTIS, noted in Insurance Journal that while the largest most-active buyers have pulled back sharply, emerging PE firms and platforms approaching their own recapitalization events have increased pace to fill part of the gap.
Of the 68 unique buyers active in H1 2026, OPTIS counted 37 as PE-backed (six completing their first-ever agency deal) and 21 as privately held (nine new entrants), per Insurance Journal — a sign the buyer pool is broadening even as headline volume contracts.
P&C shops still dominate the seller mix
Property and casualty agencies represented 198 of the 292 first-half transactions — 68% of sellers — with employee-benefits shops accounting for 11%, P&C-and-benefits combinations 9%, and MGAs, TPAs, and life distribution making up the remainder, according to Insurance Journal and Agency Checklists. That skew toward P&C is not new, but it is worth noting for any owner wondering whether consolidators have redirected appetite elsewhere: they have not.
OPTIS managing partner Tim Cunningham, quoted in both Agency Checklists and OPTIS Partners' own release, drew a clear line between winners and the rest: larger, well-run firms continue to command strong multiples while valuations are softening for agencies that do not meet that bar.
What the market structure says about Texas and Florida
Against that national backdrop, state licensing and carrier-appointment records (FL DFS / TX TDI, retrieved 2026-07-02) show that both Texas and Florida remain almost entirely independent. Texas still has roughly 9,100 independent P&C agencies — 99.7% of the market — with consolidation platforms accounting for just 0.2% of shops. Florida's roughly 9,945 independent agencies represent 95.3% of the state market, with platform-owned agencies at 3.9%. The slowdown in national deal flow has not altered those ratios in any material way.
Carrier access varies meaningfully across these markets. Public licensing records show median carrier appointments running from 6 (Austin) to 9 (San Antonio) per Texas agency and from 12 (Tampa) to 15 (Miami, Jacksonville) in Florida. Single-carrier dependency — the share of appointed agencies holding just one appointment — sits between 3% and 7% across all eight metros, a sub-scale signal that buyers scrutinize when underwriting agency quality. Agencies with broader appointment books have more pricing flexibility and less concentration risk, two factors that buyers weight heavily in a selective market.
FL DFS public license downloads as of August 13, 2026 show 50,453 active resident General Lines (2-20 P&C) agents statewide and 2,823 new agency licenses issued over the trailing 12 months, with formation holding roughly steady at about 242 new licenses per month in the most recent full quarter versus 251 a month a year earlier.
The ownership clock has not stopped ticking
MarshBerry's conclusion that demonstrated organic growth is now the differentiator aligns with what OPTIS has said about the underlying demographic pressure: a very large cohort of agency principals will need to address perpetuation over the next five to ten years, though many are smaller shops without an internal succession path. The Big "I" 2024 Agency Universe Study, cited by Insurance Business America, found one in three agencies expecting an ownership change within five years — a figure that predates the current slowdown and has not gotten smaller.
A quieter deal market does not mean an illiquid one. It means buyers are being choosier, financing is more expensive, and the gap between what a high-quality agency commands and what a subscale shop can expect has widened. For operators focused on carrier access, retention, and organic growth, that bifurcation is a feature — not a threat.
For a full view of the Texas and Florida independent-agency landscape, see pexara.ai/intelligence/insurance/florida/consolidation.