Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›North American insurance agency deals hit seven-year l…
North American insurance agency deals hit seven-year low in H1 2026
OPTIS Partners data shows 292 acquisitions in the first half, with the trailing 12-month total at 646, the weakest since Q1 2019.
North American insurance agency deal volume fell to its lowest first-half total in seven years, with 292 acquisitions recorded in H1 2026, according to OPTIS Partners, the investment bank that tracks distribution M&A.
That represented a 15% decline from 342 deals in the same period a year earlier. The trailing 12-month count of 646 deals is the weakest since Q1 2019, and Q2 2026 alone saw 138 transactions, down 25% year on year.
OPTIS said the slowdown has been building for more than a year, with 2025 ending at 695 deals, down 12% from 787 in 2024, marking a third straight year without the usual year-end rush. The report added that the buyer pool had already started thinning before that, as new investors entered less often while the number of active buyers in private-equity and privately held categories shrank.
While private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers still lead, accounting for 75% of trailing-12-month deals and 80% of deals closed in Q2 2026, OPTIS characterized the shift as a changing of the guard. The data cited 68 unique buyers in H1 2026, including 37 private-equity-backed buyers, with some starting their first-ever agency deal, alongside large acquirers cutting deal pace, such as Hub International down 47% and Keystone Agency Partners down 29% over the trailing 12 months.