CRC Group: insurance broker profile

Overview

CRC Group is one of the largest wholesale and specialty insurance distributors in North America. Like Ryan Specialty and Amwins, it works with retail agents and brokers, not directly with business owners: a retail agent with a hard-to-place or specialized risk sends it a submission, and CRC finds coverage, usually from surplus lines insurers or Lloyd's syndicates. Its website footer states that its materials are intended for licensed insurance agents, not for business owners or insureds. A business owner reaches CRC through their own agent.

CRC describes itself as a "fully independent pure-play" wholesale brokerage and underwriting distributor. Its website cites more than 6,000 teammates. Stone Point's company page, dated to its 2023 to 2024 investment, says CRC Group places $33 billion of premiums, and a CRC release in July 2025 said more than $30 billion in annual premiums. CRC does not publish audited revenue, and we did not find a reputable ranking figure for it, so this profile gives premium volume instead. Dave Obenauer is chief executive.

History

CRC's website refers to "over a century in business," but we could not confirm a founding year from its pages, so none is stated here. For years CRC was part of the insurance business of a large bank. Truist Financial sold a 20% stake in Truist Insurance Holdings (TIH) to Stone Point funds in 2023, then agreed on February 20, 2024 to sell its remaining stake to an investor group led by Stone Point Capital and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, with Mubadala Investment Company and other co-investors, at an implied enterprise value of $15.5 billion. Truist completed the sale on May 7, 2024 and reported after-tax cash proceeds of about $10.1 billion. Trade coverage said more than 1,500 employees became equity participants.

TIH then split. Marsh McLennan agreed on September 30, 2024 to buy McGriff Insurance Services, the retail arm, for $7.75 billion, and completed it on November 18, 2024. On March 3, 2025 the remaining wholesale and underwriting business dropped the TIH name and became CRC Group, organized into two divisions: Specialty and Benefits, and Underwriting. The Underwriting division includes AmRisc and Starwind. The wholesale property and casualty business became CRC Specialty, and the BenefitMall unit became CRC Benefits.

Ownership today

The ownership as we could verify it: Truist no longer holds a stake after the May 2024 completion, and CRC is owned by the Stone Point and CD&R-led investor group, with Mubadala and others, plus employee equity participants. A regulatory filing described by trade press in 2025 called CRC's acquiring entity an indirectly jointly controlled subsidiary of Stone Point Capital and CD&R. We found no later ownership change in CRC's 2026 news list or in trade coverage, but we did not see ownership percentages, and they are not disclosed.

Services

• CRC Specialty: wholesale brokerage for property, casualty, professional, financial and specialty lines. See wholesale brokers and surplus lines placement: how hard risks get insured and excess and surplus lines insurance explained.
• Underwriting: managing general agents and program underwriters including AmRisc, Starwind and, from 2026, a platform called Insurisk that launched a cyber product on September 22, 2026. See Managing general agents (MGAs): what they are and what they mean for buyers and program business: niche insurance through program administrators.
• CRC Benefits: distribution of employee benefits and related services to agents.
• Lloyd's: the July 2025 agreement to buy Atrium's managing agency, covered below.

Who it serves

Its customers are retail agents and brokers, and its product reaches business owners as coverage placed with insurers such as surplus lines carriers. A business with coastal property, a poor loss history, a novel operation or a program risk may be placed through CRC without ever hearing the name. Business owners can ask their agent which wholesaler handled the account. See Declined for coverage? Where hard-to-place businesses find insurance and independent agent, broker, captive agent or direct?.

How it is paid

CRC is private and we did not find a public compensation disclosure. As a wholesaler it is generally paid a commission by the insurer on policies it places, sharing part of the commission with the retail agent, and as a managing general agent it is typically paid commissions and fees by the insurers it underwrites for. We did not find CRC statements on contingent or supplemental commissions, so we do not describe any. State surplus lines taxes and stamping fees are separate; see surplus lines taxes, stamping fees and diligent search and how commercial insurance brokers get paid.

Recent deals

• Truist sale (announced February 20, 2024, completed May 7, 2024): see History.
• McGriff to Marsh McLennan (closed November 18, 2024): the retail arm left the group.
• ARC Excess & Surplus (2025): CRC acquired the Stone Point-backed wholesaler, which has more than $1 billion in annual premium, more than 2,000 retail brokers and six U.S. offices; it joined CRC Specialty. Terms were not disclosed, and we could not confirm the closing date.
• Atrium Underwriting (agreement July 7, 2025): CRC agreed to buy the managing agency of Atrium from Stone Point-managed funds and other investors. Atrium manages Lloyd's Syndicate 609 and wrote $1.3 billion of gross written premium in 2024. Closing was expected in the third quarter of 2025; we did not find a completion notice.
• 2026 leadership and strategy items: Bethany Greenwood named CEO of the Underwriting Division (June 16, 2026), Chris Grady named president of CRC Specialty and Benefits (September 14, 2026), and an expanded enterprise transformation strategy announced August 19, 2026.

The pattern fits private equity and the consolidation of insurance brokers.

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths: large premium placements and carrier relationships; wholesale, underwriting and Lloyd's capacity under one group; independent of any bank after 2024.
• Weaknesses: no direct access for business owners; no public revenue figure; private-equity ownership with limited disclosure; and, as with any wholesaler that also owns underwriters, a business owner may wish to ask whether the placement went to an affiliated MGA.

How to contact CRC Group