Ryan Specialty plots more hiring & acquiring for growth in 2023

Specialty insurance firm and broker  Ryan Specialty will hire and acquire its way to continued growth while launching a two-year program to trim fat and gain productivity to defend prospects for double digit organic revenue growth long-term, top company officials have said.

“We see continued solid growth in the business,” founder and CEO Pat Ryan told his company’s Q4 investor call. Headwinds on the radar screen should hold through H1, but macro uncertainty breeds the kind of risk complexity that feeds Ryan’s beloved E&S market.

“As a result, we believe the E&S market will continue to be a standout within the insurance industry and we expect our growth will be balanced across our diverse portfolio,” he said.

Hiring and M&A will continue to fuel growth, Ryan insists.

The M&A pipeline “remains robust” for both tuck-in deals and platforms with deals possible across the full spectrum of specialty distributors, including wholesale, delegated authority and benefits, Ryan said.

In headcount, Ryan Specialty expects “another year of targeted hiring” after having “onboarded the largest production class in our history” in 2022, the CEO said. Producer retention held at 97% in 2022, he added.

Additional, less specified, investments are likely in the group’s alternative risk strategy operations and on systems and technology in delegated authority specialties, chiefly “to further enhance our actuarial risk management and loss control teams.”

But Ryan Specialty will simultaneously be rolling out a two-year restructuring program to trim some fat, what CEO Ryan calls a move “to increase the scalability of our operating platform.”

“Through this program we are making changes and investments that will enable continued growth, drive innovation and deliver sustainable productivity improvements over the long-term.”

Restructuring will not slow the pace of investment in hiring or M&A. Expect $35 million in annual savings from 2025 at a cost of one-off charges totalling $65 million through 2024.

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