Quick look: Organic growth rates
Organic growth figures reported in Q4 2024 were generally in-line with those reported in Q3 2024. Most brokers reported organic growth rates in a range of 5%-14%.
- Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.’s (MMC) Q4 2024 organic growth was 7%, compared to 5% in Q3 2024, and 6% in Q2 2024.
- Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO) reported organic growth of 13.8% in Q4 2024, compared to 9.5% in Q3 2024.
- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG): For the firm’s combined brokerage and risk management segments, AJG posted 7% organic growth, one percentage point above the firm’s Q3 2024 organic growth of 6%.
- Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW) delivered 5% organic growth in Q4 2024, compared to 6% in Q3 2024.
- Aon plc. (AON) reported organic revenue growth of 6% in Q4 2024, compared to 7% in Q3 2024.
- The Baldwin Group’s (BWIN) organic revenue growth was 19%, higher than Q3 2024 growth of 14% and equal to Q2 2024 growth of 19%.
- Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) reported Q4 2024 organic growth of 11% compared to 11.8% in Q3 2024.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC)
MMC reported Q4 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.87 on revenue of $6.1 billion compared to consensus EPS of $1.76 on $5.96 billion revenue. MMC’s Q4 2024 organic growth was 7%, compared to 5% Q3 2024, and 6% Q2 2024.
John Q. Doyle, President and CEO of MMC, said: “Turning to our outlook for 2025, we are well positioned for another strong year. We currently expect mid-single-digit underlying revenue growth, including an anticipated headwind from fiduciary income along with continued margin expansion and solid adjusted EPS growth.”
Global commercial insurance rates declined by 2% in Q4 2024, after a 1% decline in Q3 2024, according to the Marsh Global Insurance Market Index. The decline in Q3 was the first decrease in the composite rate in seven years. Drivers of the decrease include greater competition in commercial property insurance, moderating casualty rate increases, and rate decreases in cyber. Global property rates were down 3% in Q4 2024 versus 2% in Q3 2024. Workers’ compensation decreased in the mid-single digits during the fourth quarter. Global financial and professional liability rates were down 6%, while cyber decreased 7%. In reinsurance, underwriting discipline persisted, and capacity increased at a more significant pace than client demand.
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for MMC.
Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO)
BRO reported Q4 2024 adjusted EPS of $0.86 on revenue of $1.18 billion, compared with consensus EPS of $0.77 on $1.12 billion revenue. Organic growth was 13.8% in Q4 2024, compared to 9.5% in Q3 2024. Major drivers of organic growth are the firm’s ability to win net new business and the economy.
Insurance rates for most lines continued to increase but they are moderating downward compared to last quarter and last year. BRO saw rate increases of 2%-7% range compared to last quarter for most lines in the admitted property & casualty (P&C) markets. The rate increases for non-CAT property lines were in a range of flat to up 5%. For casualty, BRO continued to see rate increases for primary layers from the ongoing size of legal judgments in the U.S. In terms of Excess & Surplus (E&S) markets, CAT property rates were down 10%-20% in Q4, in line with the end of Q3.
BRO acquired 10 companies comprising $137 million in annual revenue in the fourth quarter. “From an overall market perspective, competition remains fierce for high-quality businesses, and we’re starting to see more activity from financial sponsors for the smaller and midsized deals as interest rates are beginning to decrease,” said CEO, President, and Director J. Powell Brown on the earnings call.
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for BRO.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG)
AJG reported Q4 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 on revenue of $2.68 billion, compared to consensus EPS of $2.03 on $2.70 billion revenue. For the firm’s combined brokerage and risk management segments, AJG posted 7% organic growth, one percentage point above the firm’s Q3 2024 organic growth of 6%.
For the brokerage segment, organic growth was 7.1%. AJG’s reinsurance, wholesale, and specialty businesses posted overall organic growth of 9%. The company completed 20 new “tuck-in” mergers in Q4 2024 representing approximately $200 million of estimated annualized revenue, with the “big news” coming in December when AJG signed an agreement to acquire AssuredPartners with $2.9 billion of annual pro forma revenue.
In addition to the AssuredPartners acquisition, AJG had approximately 45 term sheets being signed and prepared, representing around $650 million of annualized revenue. Chairman & CEO J. Patrick Gallagher stated, “These are terrific metrics. And as proud as I am of the excellent financial performance this year, I’m more proud of the way our culture has stayed true as we continue to expand…Frankly, our culture is unstoppable, and that is the Gallagher Way.”
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for AJG.
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ: WTW)
WTW reported Q4 2024 adjusted diluted EPS of $8.13 on revenue of $3.04 billion, compared to consensus estimates of $8.03 adjusted diluted EPS on $3.05 billion revenue. WTW delivered 5% organic growth in Q4 2024, compared to 6% in Q3 2024. For the full year, WTW delivered organic revenue growth of 5% or 6% excluding TRANZACT. In January 2025, WTW completed the sale of TRANZACT, its direct-to-consumer insurance distribution business, to the private equity firm GTCR and Recognize, a digital services platform.
On the TRANZACT sale, WTW noted, “We believe this sale will help us sharpen our strategic focus, simplify our portfolio and accelerate our progress towards our long-term free cash flow margin goals. The transaction resulted in a pretax loss and related impairment charges of over $1 billion each, which are reflected in the full year GAAP results.”
The Risk & Broking segment saw Q4 organic revenue growth of 7%. Corporate Risk & Broking had organic growth of 6% during the quarter. “Our specialization strategy continues to lead the way with facultative surety and marine specialty lines having been major contributors to the strong growth performance this quarter,” WTW’s CFO & Co-head of Corporate Development Andrew Jay Krasner commented.
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for WTW.
Aon plc. (NYSE: AON)
AON reported Q4 2024 adjusted EPS of $4.42 on $4.15 billion revenue, compared to consensus estimates of $4.25 adjusted EPS on $4.21 billion revenue. Organic revenue growth was 6% in Q4, compared to 7% in Q3. Organic growth for the full year was also 6%.
AON CEO & Executive Director Gregory Case stated that the company “had great execution in year one of our 3×3 plan.” He also said: “As we go into 2025, year two, we remain well-positioned to continue to deliver mid-single-digit or greater organic revenue growth.”
AON CFO, Edmund J. Reese stated that “full year 2025 guidance is mid-single-digit or greater organic revenue growth, adjusted margin expansion, strong adjusted EPS growth and double-digit free cash flow growth.”
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for AON.
The Baldwin Group (NYSE: BWIN)
BWIN reported Q4 2024 adjusted EPS of $0.27 on revenue of $329.89 million, compared to consensus EPS of $0.26 on revenue of $327.42 million. BWIN’s organic revenue growth was 19%, higher than Q3 2024 growth of 14% and equal to Q2 2024 growth of 19%. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) grew 19% compared to 14% adjusted EBITDA growth in Q3 2024.
For Q1 2025, BWIN expects revenue of $410 million to $420 million and organic revenue growth towards the low end of the 10% to 15% long-term range. BWIN anticipates adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2025 between $110 million and $115 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.62 to $0.66 per share.
Trevor Baldwin, CEO of BWIN, shared, “We now have expanded opportunities to invest in attracting and retaining talent, developing products and solutions for our clients and ongoing optimization of our operations, which will further enhance the sustainability of our operating model and our ability to deliver top and bottom-line growth.”
Read more about fourth quarter earnings for BWIN.
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RYAN)
RYAN reported Q4 2024 adjusted EPS of $0.45 on revenue of $663.5 million, compared to consensus estimates of $0.45 adjusted EPS on $658.8 million. RYAN reported Q4 2024 organic growth of 11% compared to Q3 2024’s 11.8%. Q4 2024 and full year growth were driven by organic and inorganic opportunities, with another strong quarter in RYAN’s underwriting management specialty, which includes MGUs, MGAs, and programs.
RYAN CEO & Director Timothy William Turner spoke about pricing trends: “After years of significant price increases, and capacity and appetite increasing in the second half of the year, property pricing was down in Q4. At the same time, casualty pricing accelerated and broadened out across an increasing number of classes. Across both major classes, there remains uncertainty in the loss environment. This continues to drive higher retentions of risk and pushes new risks into the specialty and E&S marketplace.” Again, RYAN continues to expect the flow of business into the E&S and specialty market to be a significant driver of RYAN’s growth over the long-term, more so than rate.
