The broker was also ranked as the leader in commercial property and casualty insurance retail broking 

Marsh McLennan was ranked top broking group in 2021 for its worldwide revenues, according to the latest analysis and rankings by insurance marketing consultancy Insuramore.

Following Marsh was Aon, WTW, Gallagher and HUB in descending order.

The leaders in the following five broking segments were as follows:

• Commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurance retail broking – Marsh McLennan

• Private P&C insurance retail broking – Alliant, largely due to its acquisition of Confie in 2021

• Employee benefits activity plus retail broking of life and health cover – WTW

• Reinsurance broking – Aon

• Wholesale insurance broking – Amwins

Several factors brought about the notable increase in the world’s insurance broking market in 2021.

For example, growth in underlying premium rates was an important driver for both commercial P&C retail broking and wholesale broking.

On top of this, digital and advice-led distribution had the most impact for retail broking of both private P&C insurance and life and health insurance – intermediaries with advanced digital capabilities have benefited significantly from this trend.

Fees and commission

Meanwhile, the value of the worldwide market for insurance broking in terms of fees and commissions earned was approximately $137.6bn (£109.9bn) in 2021, according to Insuramore

This was up from around $122.3bn (£97.76bn) in 2020, equivalent to a growth rate of almost 12.5% without adjusting for inflation and about 8% when adjusted for inflation.

Last year’s total figure of $137.6bn (£109.9bn) was most significantly contributed to by commercial property and casualty (P&C) broking, which provided $62bn (£49.5bn) in fees and commissions during 2021.

Non-life retail broking contributed $13.2bn (£10.5bn), private P&C (non-life) retail broking provided $46.4bn (£37.09bn), employee benefits plus life and health insurance retail broking contributed $5.5bn (£4.40bn) and reinsurance broking provided $10.5bn (£8.39bn).

These figures excluded tied agency, MGA and MGU activity.

Each of the segments registered a double-digit growth rate during 2021 without adjusting for inflation.

The top 20 broking groups together achieved an even higher aggregate growth rate of 14.6%, albeit driven in part by M&A activity.

Overall, the top 20 groups are believed to have controlled 50.6% of total global broking fees and commissions in 2021. The top 300 groups accounted for 79.3%.

Insuramore said it would be interesting to see whether a continuing stream of M&A activity causes the worldwide insurance market to consolidate in 2022, or if the dynamic growth of some smaller and medium-sized competitors means the share of the top 20 groups will hold just over a half of global broking revenues.