Are you getting peppered with phone calls from people claiming to represent an interested acquirer? It sounds intriguing, even flattering, but beware.
Often, these callers don’t represent a buyer. Rather, they represent any buyer that will pay them a fee to introduce them to you.
Here is how it works: they tell you that you have a great firm, and that there is a huge demand for independent insurance agencies like yours. And, of course, the multiples being paid are huge. You tell the caller (who we will refer to as Odysseus) that you aren’t for sale. However, feeling confident, you casually jest that you’d consider selling if someone is willing to pay you an enormous price.
Your response seems innocuous. However, this may have opened the door for the Trojan horse.
Based on what you said, Odysseus will call as many potential acquirers as he needs to until he finds one that agrees to pay him a fee if he sets up a meeting, which eventually leads to a transaction. In essence, Odysseus puts your agency on the market. And, in the insurance community, news can travel fast.
Here is our advice: Tell Odysseus, and his friends, that you are not for sale. Make it clear that you aren’t interested in meeting anyone. Even if Odysseus is actually affiliated with a particular high-quality buyer who you really like, you shouldn’t meet until: 1. you have determined that it is the right time to sell and you are organized to do so; and 2. you are able to meet with other buyers and hear what they have to offer as well.
So, besides being careful about whom you speak, be careful what you say. Don’t be inadvertently for sale. And when you do decide to sell, have a well-thought-out plan because it may be the largest financial decision of your life.
PIA has more information
PIA Northeast has resources you need if you are looking to buy or sell your agency. Join Skip Hagerty and his colleagues for the webinar Buy, Sell, Perpetuate, or Stay the Course?, which will be held Thursday, May 7, 2026, starting at 2 p.m. For more information, or to register, click the appropriate state: Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont.
And, PIA Northeast members have access to PIA’s Agency Transition Program, which assists PIA Northeast members to make contact with other agencies that are looking to buy, sell or merge insurance businesses. This program offers sellers strict confidentiality.
Skip Hagerty
Skip began his career at PhiloSmith in 1998, and he became a partner in 2005. Prior to joining PhiloSmith, Skip held a variety of management positions—both domestically and internationally at G.E. Capital, and as a summer associate at Credit Suisse First Boston. During his time at PhiloSmith, Skip has either led or assisted in the negotiation and consummation of over 200 merger & acquisition transactions. These transactions have ranged from $200+ million property/casualty insurance companies, to $100+ million insurance agency/broker transactions. Skip is an experienced adviser for mutual insurance company affiliations. He is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer on the topic of insurance industry M&A. Skip graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He maintains the Series 7, 79 and 63 FINRA registrations through PhiloSmith Securities LLC, the affiliated FINRA registered broker/dealer of PhiloSmith Capital Corp.
