Risk Strategies: insurance broker profile

Overview

Risk Strategies is a Boston-founded retail insurance broker and risk adviser that grew mostly by acquiring other agencies. For most of the last decade it was private-equity owned. It is now part of Brown & Brown. On August 1, 2025, Brown & Brown completed the purchase of RSC Topco, Inc., the holding company for Accession Risk Management Group, the parent of Risk Strategies (retail) and One80 Intermediaries (wholesale and programs).

Business Insurance reported at the closing that Accession ranked 13th among U.S. business brokers on 2024 revenue, and that the deal added about $1.7 billion of annual revenue to Brown & Brown, which reported $4.71 billion for 2024. Brown & Brown described the price as $9.825 billion gross, on a cash and debt-free basis. The legacy risk-strategies.com address now redirects to Brown & Brown's U.S. site; we did not find an announcement that retires the Risk Strategies name, so the brand may still appear on local offices and in client documents.

History

According to the company's Wikipedia history, Risk Strategies was founded in Boston in 1997 by Mike Christian. It took a minority investment from W. R. Berkley in the 2000s to expand into the Midwest and California. Private equity followed:

• 2013: Kohlberg & Company acquired a majority interest.
• 2015: Kelso & Company bought Kohlberg's stake.
• 2023: Accession Risk Management Group was announced as the parent brand over Risk Strategies and One80 Intermediaries.
• 2025: Brown & Brown acquired the group.

Acquisitions listed in the same history include DeWitt Stern (2014), Krauter & Company, Gowrie Group subsidiaries and Thomas McGee Group (all 2019), Gehring Group (2022), and the U.S. and Canadian operations of Hugh Wood (reported in March 2024). John Mina was named chief executive in 2019. We could not confirm from a primary source who runs the business after the Brown & Brown integration.

Services

Risk Strategies sells commercial property and casualty coverage, employee benefits consulting, and private client insurance, mostly through local offices. Accession's other half, One80 Intermediaries, is a wholesaler and program business (see wholesale brokers and surplus lines placement: how hard risks get insured, surplus lines broker and Managing general agents (MGAs): what they are and what they mean for buyers). Brown & Brown said it planned to place the Risk Strategies team in its retail segment and One80 in a new specialty distribution segment. In practice that means a client may deal with a Risk Strategies retail broker who, for hard-to-place risks, reaches a sister wholesaler inside the same corporate family. Buyers can ask whether a placement was routed that way and whether it changed the compensation the group earns, since both sides of the transaction then sit under one owner.

Who it serves

The firm's core customers are middle-market businesses, with specialty practices for industries such as health care, real estate, and construction, and a benefits arm for employers of varying sizes. Accession was described at the time of the deal as having more than 5,000 insurance professionals across the United States and Canada. For small businesses, the practical difference between a national retail broker and a local agent is covered in independent agent, broker, captive agent or direct? and how to choose a commercial insurance broker.

How it is paid

As a private subsidiary, Risk Strategies no longer publishes its own compensation disclosures. Its parent's filings describe the standard model: commissions paid by insurers as a percentage of premium, fees paid by clients (common in benefits and risk management work), and profit-sharing contingent commissions paid by insurers after the year based on the volume, growth and profitability of business placed. Brown & Brown reported 2025 commissions and fees of $5,763 million, including $255 million of profit-sharing contingent commissions. Clients can ask any broker, including a Risk Strategies office, to disclose in writing every form of compensation on their account. how commercial insurance brokers get paid explains the arrangements.

Recent deals

• Brown & Brown purchase of Accession: announced June 2025 and completed August 1, 2025 for $9.825 billion gross. Brown & Brown said it would fund the deal with about $4 billion of new equity and $4 billion of bonds. Business Insurance called it the largest acquisition in Brown & Brown's history.
• Integration: Brown & Brown named Mark Manzi North American Retail Brokerage Leader in the fall of 2025, as reported by trade press.
• Before the sale: Hugh Wood (2024) and other tuck-ins, as noted above.

For how this fits the wider market, see private equity and the consolidation of insurance brokers and the largest commercial insurance brokers, ranked by 2025 revenue.

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths: a national retail network with benefits and wholesale capabilities inside a larger group; the backing of a public broker with its own carrier relationships.
• Weaknesses: integration into a new parent can change staff, systems and branding; compensation arrangements now follow the parent's programs; standalone figures are not published, which makes the firm harder to compare on its own.

How to contact Risk Strategies