Key Takeaways
- • IMA Financial Group's private equity and M&A practice argues PE sponsors need a broker who treats the account as two clients: the portfolio company running operations and the sponsor executing an investment strategy.
- • The team states that the broker's role extends well beyond the annual renewal, spanning acquisition, growth, and exit, with decisions made early in the hold period affecting risk profile, cost, and future buyer appeal.
- • Sponsors expect portfolio-level reporting, benchmarking, and purchasing-power leverage rather than company-by-company thinking, in the team's view.
- • Citing Marsh's 2025 Global Transactional Risk Insurance Report, North American primary R&W premium rates rose 16% year-over-year in 2025, the largest regional pricing shift globally.
- • Citing Aon's 2026 Global M&A and Transaction Solutions Claims Study, North American clients recovered more than $1 billion across transaction solutions policies in 2025, including over $440 million from R&W insurance.
- • The team recommends PE firms vet brokers on dedicated PE and M&A practice experience, number of PE-backed clients, and ability to support both diligence and post-close operations.
Summary
According to IMA Financial Group's private equity and M&A practice, more than 21,000 PE-backed firms operate across the US, with a combined workforce of over 13 million workers per the American Investment Council's 2025 private equity pension study. The article, featuring specialists Jordyn Arons Rosen, Kevin Crowley, Shawn Carroll, and Meredith Milley, argues that a PE-backed insurance account involves two clients with different priorities: the portfolio company focused on operations, and the sponsor focused on value creation, risk management, and returns. The team contends recommendations must be operationally sound, financially grounded, and aligned with the sponsor's objectives, not merely coverage-compliant.
The engagement extends across the full investment lifecycle. The broker must understand the acquisition rationale, investment thesis, growth plan, and exit strategy. The team argues that program choices made early in the hold period shape the company's risk profile, cost structure, and attractiveness to future buyers, and that many brokers fail to account for this trajectory.
At the portfolio level, sponsors need a consolidated view supporting board discussions and investment decisions, distinct from the operational data management teams require. The team says sponsors want to compare performance across companies, identify high-cost or high-claim areas, and find efficiency gains. Recommended value levers include collective purchasing power, consistent program structures, improved claims outcomes, and repeatable processes for onboarding add-on acquisitions.
On transaction risk, the article cites Marsh's 2025 Global Transactional Risk Insurance Report, published in March 2026, which found average primary-layer R&W premium rates in North America rose 16% year-over-year in 2025, the most pronounced regional shift globally. It also cites Aon's 2026 Global M&A and Transaction Solutions Claims Study, which found North American clients recovered more than $1 billion across transaction solutions policies in 2025, including over $440 million from R&W insurance. The team adds that a clean claims record and disciplined risk management can reduce diligence friction at exit.
The team identifies generalist brokers' failure to adopt a deal-oriented frame and portfolio-level thinking as the most common shortcoming, and warns that slow mobilization on short-notice transactions creates friction. When vetting brokers, the team advises PE firms to prioritize demonstrated PE sponsor experience, the number of PE-backed clients served, dedicated PE and M&A practice capacity, and the ability to support both transaction work and post-close operations over a five-to-seven-year horizon.
The engagement extends across the full investment lifecycle. The broker must understand the acquisition rationale, investment thesis, growth plan, and exit strategy. The team argues that program choices made early in the hold period shape the company's risk profile, cost structure, and attractiveness to future buyers, and that many brokers fail to account for this trajectory.
At the portfolio level, sponsors need a consolidated view supporting board discussions and investment decisions, distinct from the operational data management teams require. The team says sponsors want to compare performance across companies, identify high-cost or high-claim areas, and find efficiency gains. Recommended value levers include collective purchasing power, consistent program structures, improved claims outcomes, and repeatable processes for onboarding add-on acquisitions.
On transaction risk, the article cites Marsh's 2025 Global Transactional Risk Insurance Report, published in March 2026, which found average primary-layer R&W premium rates in North America rose 16% year-over-year in 2025, the most pronounced regional shift globally. It also cites Aon's 2026 Global M&A and Transaction Solutions Claims Study, which found North American clients recovered more than $1 billion across transaction solutions policies in 2025, including over $440 million from R&W insurance. The team adds that a clean claims record and disciplined risk management can reduce diligence friction at exit.
The team identifies generalist brokers' failure to adopt a deal-oriented frame and portfolio-level thinking as the most common shortcoming, and warns that slow mobilization on short-notice transactions creates friction. When vetting brokers, the team advises PE firms to prioritize demonstrated PE sponsor experience, the number of PE-backed clients served, dedicated PE and M&A practice capacity, and the ability to support both transaction work and post-close operations over a five-to-seven-year horizon.
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