Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc., an international specialty insurance service company, provides specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers.
The company provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter with delegated authority from insurance carriers.
For retail insurance brokers, the company assists in the placement of complex or otherwise hard-to-pla...
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc., an international specialty insurance service company, provides specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers.
The company provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter with delegated authority from insurance carriers.
For retail insurance brokers, the company assists in the placement of complex or otherwise hard-to-place risks. For insurance carriers, it works with retail and wholesale insurance brokers to source, onboard, underwrite, and service these same risks. A significant majority of the premiums placed by the company is bound in the excess and surplus lines (E&S) market, which includes Lloyd’s of London, which is referred to as Lloyd’s.
The company's plan for continued growth includes positioning itself as a pioneer in ever-changing markets, attracting and developing talent, broadening its product offerings organically and inorganically, and further entrenching its deep industry relationships. It has been successful in each of these areas through its relentless focus on serving each of its key constituents:
Retail Insurance Brokers: Global, national, regional, and local retail insurance brokers rely on the company to provide expertise in specialty insurance lines and access to the best available coverage options on behalf of insureds. Importantly, unlike some of its competitors, the company has no retail operations, freeing it from potential channel conflicts with its retail brokerage trading partners, which has been a cornerstone of its strategy since its founding.
Carriers: Insurance carriers, ranging from Lloyd’s syndicates to multi-line underwriters and E&S specialists, rely on the company to provide them with efficient, scaled distribution, specialty brokering and underwriting management expertise, and insurance products. Insurance carriers also leverage the company’s comprehensive distribution network and deep knowledge to gain timely and cost-efficient access to new risk classes and industries.
The company’s distribution network encompasses over 700 individuals directly responsible for revenue generation in either Wholesale Brokerage or Binding Authority (each, a ‘Producer’ and together, the ‘Producers’) and Underwriting Managers underwrites over 300 individual products. Combined, this provides the company access to over 30,000 retail insurance brokerage firms and over 350 insurance carriers.
The company’s Producers are able to offer retail insurance brokers multi-channel access to E&S and Admitted markets through its three Specialties: Wholesale Brokerage, Binding Authority, and Underwriting Management.
Wholesale Brokerage: The company’s Wholesale Brokerage Specialty operates predominantly under the brand ‘RT Specialty’ along with others, such as ‘RT ProExec’ and ‘CERT.’ Wholesale Brokerage distributes a wide range and diversified mix of specialty property, casualty, professional lines, personal lines, and workers’ compensation insurance products from insurance carriers to retail brokerage firms. The company provides insurance carriers with efficient variable-cost distribution in all states through its extensive relationships with retail brokers.
Binding Authority: The company’s Binding Authority Specialty operates under the ‘RT Specialty’ and ‘RT Binding Authority’ brands. Binding Authority provides timely and secure access to its carrier trading partners that have delegated underwriting authority and critical administrative and distribution responsibilities to it through its in-house binding agreements. A significant component of the company’s growth in a majority of this business comprises larger-volume, smaller-premium policies with well-defined underwriting criteria, which allows it to combine swift turnaround with the authority to secure coverage regardless of the complexity of risk.
Underwriting Management: The company’s Underwriting Management Specialty operates under multiple brands, which are collectively referred to as ‘Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers.’ This Specialty offers insurance carriers cost-effective specialty market expertise in distinct and complex market niches underserved in today’s marketplace through 39 MGAs and MGUs, which act on behalf of insurance carriers. These carriers have provided the company the authority to design, underwrite and bind coverage, and administer policies for specific risks. The company also has a National Programs Platform that, together with its MGAs and MGUs, offers commercial insurance for specific product lines or industry classes. Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers offers a broad distribution platform through a network of retail and wholesale brokers, including RT Specialty.
The company has significantly enhanced its human capital, product capabilities, and geographic footprint through strategic acquisitions. Since inception, it has partnered with over 55 firms through acquisition. These firms represent a diverse mix of specialties and geographies, allowing the company to better service both existing and prospective trading partners.
The key attributes the company seeks in its acquisition partners are that they have a strong track record of organic revenue growth, have the ability to enhance its market presence, are geographically diverse, provide complementary product lines, and possess a management team that is aligned with its culture.
The company leverages technology to drive both productivity and efficiency. In 2023, it completed the merger of the binding authority service model, technology platform, and premium scale from the acquisition of All Risk, Ltd, one of its largest acquisitions to date, with its differentiated technology platform, RT Connector.
RT Connector is a digital marketplace through which the company’s retail clients and internal producers can receive quotes and bind policies online. In cases when certain risks do not fit into RT Connector’s automated underwriting criteria, the retail insurance broker is automatically directed to the company’s Producers and underwriters for more traditional placement methods. This holistic approach and integrated service model allow the company to better serve retail insurance brokers. It has also connected with several ‘digital first’ retail trading partners as a wholesale digital distributor. Under these arrangements, policies that do not fit the trading partner’s Admitted markets platform are referred directly into the RT Connector platform for access to E&S solutions.
Market
As a wholesale distributor, the company operates within the broader P&C insurance distribution market, which comprises both wholesale insurance brokers and retail insurance brokers. Wholesale and retail insurance brokers facilitate the placement of P&C insurance products in both the E&S and Admitted markets.
Strategy
The company’s strategies are to innovate in an ever-changing market; pursue strategic acquisitions and align interests to enhance the network effect; deepen and broaden its relationships with retail broker trading partners; build a comprehensive international delegated authority business; and invest in operations, as well as invest in growth.
Specialties
Wholesale Brokerage
The company’s Wholesale Brokerage Specialty is primarily focused on specialty insurance products that retail brokers and carriers have difficulty placing on their own due to the unique nature or size of the risk. The company’s Wholesale Brokerage professionals are creative and skilled problem solvers, assisting retail insurance brokers in crafting customized solutions. It prides itself on providing strategic advice, from coverage strategy and conception all the way through claims activity. To achieve optimal client outcomes, the company’s professionals utilize both their expertise and its capabilities and resources. Wholesale Brokerage operates predominantly under the brand ‘RT Specialty.’
The company’s Wholesale Brokers distribute a wide range and diversified mix of specialty insurance products from insurance carriers to retail insurance brokerage firms. Its largest distribution channels include (among others):
Property coverages: Real Estate (Condos, Vacant Property), Catastrophic Exposures (Coastal Wind, Flood, Wildfire, Earthquake, Terrorism), Specialized Coverage (Deductible Buy-Backs, Deductible Placements), Builder’s Risk, Distribution / Warehousing, Group Programs, Healthcare Risks.
Casualty coverages: Construction (Project Specific, Residential and Commercial Contractor), Real Estate (Habitational / OL&T / Lessors Risk), Life Sciences, Healthcare, Environmental, Primary and Excess Auto, Political Risks, Product Liability / Manufacturing Risks, Hospitality / Liquor Liability, Public Entities.
Professional & Executive Liability coverages: Private Company Management Liability, Public Company Directors and Officers Liability, Financial Institutions Management Liability, Not-For-Profit Organization Management Liability, Crime / Kidnap / Ransom, Privacy Liability and Network Security, Errors and Omissions Liability, Medical Professional Liability.
Transportation coverages: Local and Long-Haul Trucking, Haz-Mat Haulers, Contractors Fleets, Home Delivery, Non-Emergency Medical Transport, Waste Haulers, Auto Haulers.
Personal Lines coverages: Homeowners (Condo Unit Owner, Contents In-Storage, High Value Homeowners, Home-Based Business Product, Manufactured Homes), Farm & Ranch, Flood, Recreational (Collector Vehicle, All Terrain, Snowmobile, Watercraft).
The company’s Wholesale Brokerage Specialty has extensive relationships with blue-chip insurance carriers and retail insurance brokers. With regard to entities that the company’s Wholesale Brokerage Specialty has a relationship with, there are no material concentrations in retail insurance brokers (top five: 26.9% of 2024 revenue), insurance carriers (top five: 20.9% of 2024 revenue - excluding all Lloyd’s syndicates combined), or internal Producers (top five: 14.8% of 2024 revenue). These concentration statistics reflect both Wholesale Brokerage and Binding Authority Specialties, as many producers utilize both placement strategies. During 2024, the company conducted business with thousands of retail brokerage firms, including substantially all of the 100 largest the United States retail brokers as identified by Business Insurance in 2023. It also works with small to mid-size retail brokerage firms that do not have direct access to certain of the insurance carriers with which the company does business. The company continues to benefit from the consolidation of wholesale broking relationships by many retail brokers due to its expertise, execution, and absence of conflicts with retail brokers’ core businesses.
Binding Authority
Binding Authority provides timely and secure access to the company’s carrier trading partners that have granted relatively limited delegated underwriting authority to it through its in-house binding agreements. Much of this business comprises larger-volume, smaller-premium policies with well-defined underwriting criteria, which allows the company to combine swift turnaround with the authority to secure coverage regardless of the complexity of risk. The ability to quickly process higher volume policies endows the company with a significant efficiency advantage over its competitors attempting to individually place each risk.
The company’s Binding Authority Producers distribute a broad scope of insurance solutions to its retail agent and broker trading partners. Its industry distribution channels include (among others):
General Liability: Manufacturing, Contractors, Habitational, Hospitality, Building Owners and Lessors, Sales/Service, and Special Events.
Property: Vacant, Coastal, Distressed, Wildfire Exposed, Warehouse, Habitational, and Difference in Condition.
Transportation: Primary and Excess Auto Liability, Business Auto & Public Auto, Auto Physical Damage, Trailer Interchange, and Contingent Liability and Cargo.
Other: Workers’ Compensation, Liquor Liability, Farm and Ranch, Builder’s Risk, Inland Marine, Motor Truck Cargo, and Crime.
Underwriting Management
Underwriting Management offers insurance carriers cost-effective, specialty market expertise in distinct and complex market niches underserved in marketplace through MGAs and MGUs, which act on behalf of insurance carriers that have given the company relatively broad authority to underwrite and bind coverage, as well as critical product design, administrative and distribution responsibilities, for specific risks, and (often proprietary) National Programs that offer commercial and personal insurance for specific product lines or industry classes. Professionals in the Underwriting Management Specialty often have a meaningful percentage of their compensation tied to underwriting performance to align interests with those of the company’s carrier trading partners. In 2024, the company completed agreements for the acquisition of entities or assets of seven companies that significantly increased its MGA/MGU footprint internationally and added to its MGA/MGU and National Programs offerings and capabilities domestically.
Acquisitions
On May 1, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of MGU platform Castel Underwriting Agencies Limited. Castel is headquartered in London, England, with additional offices and/or operations in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Singapore.
On August 30, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of the US Assure Insurance Services of Florida, Inc., (‘US Assure’), a program specializing in builder’s risk insurance headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
On September 1, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of certain assets of Greenhill Underwriting Insurance Services, LLC, an MGU focused on the allied health industry headquartered in Houston, Texas.
On September 13, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of the Property and Casualty MGUs owned by Ethos Specialty Insurance, LLC, composed of eight programs, which underwrite on behalf of insurance carriers.
On October 1, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of certain assets of EverSports & Entertainment Insurance, Inc., an MGU focused on sports, leisure, and entertainment risks based in Carmel, Indiana.
On October 2, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of certain assets of the European MGA, Geo Underwriting Europe BV, a financial lines MGA based in Rotterdam, Netherlands with operations in Germany.
On November 4, 2024, the company completed the acquisition of Innovisk Capital Partners, a portfolio of seven MGUs with lines of business that include environmental, transactional liability, the US and international financial lines, professional liability for lawyers, commercial auto liability, and the UK professional indemnity and P&C.
Seasonality
The company’s Wholesale Brokerage and Binding Authority Specialties typically experience higher revenues in the second and fourth calendar quarters of each year (year ended December 31, 2024), primarily due to the timing of policy renewals. The company’s Underwriting Management Specialty typically experiences higher revenues in the fourth quarter, primarily due to the timing of policy renewals.
Clients
The insureds served by the company’s clients operate in many businesses and industries throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, and certain other countries in which the company’s subsidiaries operate. The company’s clients are retail brokers and agents, other intermediaries, and insurance carriers. The top five retail brokers in the United States account for 21.8% of the company’s revenue in 2024.
Intellectual Property
The company has trademarks in the United States for ‘Ryan Specialty’ and ‘RT Specialty.’ The logo design for RT Specialty, and numerous of the company’s other brand names and logos, are registered as trademarks in the United States and other jurisdictions. The company has also registered numerous internet domain names related to its business.
Regulation
In the United Kingdom, some of the company’s subsidiaries are regulated by governmental agencies, including the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’), with additional licensing and regulatory oversight from the Lloyd’s insurance market.
History
Ryan Specialty Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2010. The company was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 2021.
