BroadStreet Partners: insurance broker profile

Overview

BroadStreet Partners is a Columbus, Ohio, insurance brokerage that grows by buying independent agencies and keeping them as local "Core Agency Partners." It focuses on the middle market for commercial and personal property and casualty insurance and employee benefits. Mike O'Connor is chief executive, according to the company's website and trade coverage.

BroadStreet does not publish audited financials. Business Insurance's 2026 ranking of the largest U.S. brokers, which ranks by 2025 U.S. brokerage revenue, listed BroadStreet 11th with about $1.91 billion, up about 10.2 percent from the prior year, as summarized in a broker's own release about the list. The company's website says more than 10,000 colleagues work across its Core Partner agencies. We could not find a company-stated global revenue figure, so the ranking figure is the one we use.

History

We could not confirm a founding year from BroadStreet's own pages; its website refers to a roughly 25-year growth record and trade coverage names Rick Miley as a founder. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan became its majority shareholder in 2012, according to trade coverage of the 2025 transaction.

The most recent ownership change was announced on April 10, 2025: an investor group led by Ethos Capital, the Canadian pension manager BCI (British Columbia Investment Management Corporation) and White Mountains Insurance Group agreed to take a co-control position alongside Ontario Teachers'. BroadStreet announced the closing on July 18, 2025, with accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management also taking part. Ontario Teachers' said it would keep a significant co-control stake. The price was not disclosed.

Services

BroadStreet's agencies place commercial property, general liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto, professional liability and other business coverage, and many also sell group health and benefits plans and individual personal lines. Because each partner agency keeps its own name and staff, the services a business sees depend on the local agency. Specialty offerings vary by partner, and the group does not run a central underwriting arm for these retail agencies.

Who it serves

Its typical client is a small or mid-sized company buying through a local independent agency. BroadStreet describes its model as co-ownership: more than 800 colleagues across 30 Core Agency Partners (as of the 2025 closing announcement) hold equity in their local agencies, with the stated aim of preserving local leadership while giving agencies shared technology and carrier access. A business dealing with a BroadStreet agency will usually deal with a familiar local brand rather than the BroadStreet name; how this differs from a global broker or a direct insurer is explained in independent agent, broker, captive agent or direct? and how to choose a commercial insurance broker.

How it is paid

BroadStreet is private and does not file a compensation disclosure we could review. Retail agencies of this type are generally paid commissions by insurers on policies they place, fees from clients for some services such as benefits consulting and risk management work, and in some cases additional incentive payments from insurers tied to volume or results. Because we did not find BroadStreet's own statement on how its agencies are compensated, we do not attribute specific contingent or supplemental commission programs to the firm. Business owners can ask their local agency for a written compensation disclosure. how commercial insurance brokers get paid explains the models and what to ask.

Recent deals

• Ethos-led investment (announced April 10, 2025; closed July 18, 2025): described above. The investor group joined Ontario Teachers' as co-owners; terms were not disclosed.
• Agency acquisitions: BroadStreet's model is to add agencies continually. We did not verify individual 2026 acquisitions from a primary source, so none are listed here. The broader pattern is described in private equity and the consolidation of insurance brokers.

Because BroadStreet is not a wholesale distributor, a business that needs hard-to-place coverage will typically see its local agency go to a wholesale broker on its behalf; see wholesale brokers and surplus lines placement: how hard risks get insured for how that second step works. Trade coverage describes the 2025 transaction as part of the large private-capital wave in brokerage in which funds buy platforms and then add agencies. Buyers of insurance should expect further changes of ownership and agency names over time.

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths: local agency brands and relationships are preserved; employee equity ownership; scale in carrier access; multiple private-capital backers with long-term pension money.
• Weaknesses: limited public financial disclosure; the quality of service varies by individual agency; a business may not realize its local agency belongs to a larger group, so it should ask who owns it and how it is paid.

Private-equity and pension-backed ownership can mean a change of ownership every several years. The risk to a client is usually less about coverage than about continuity of people and whether a policy is moved to different carriers after a sale.

How to contact BroadStreet Partners