Carrier relationships are an agency's distribution backbone — and their concentration is one of the risks a buyer prices most directly. The 2022 carrier data shows the steepest gradient in the study: dependency on a single carrier falls fourfold from the smallest tier to the largest. This is the carrier-strategy slice of the Best Practices strategic context; the year's narrative is the 2022 context.
§ 01 · Commission concentrationThe dependency gradient.
The single clearest carrier finding: top-carrier dependency falls steeply with size. The smallest agencies draw 35.5% of P&C commission from one carrier and 52.9% from three; the largest draw just 9.0% and 20.5%. Small agencies are, in effect, three carrier relationships away from the majority of their revenue.
| P&C commission concentration | Top-1 carrier | Top-3 carriers |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1.25M | 35.5% | 52.9% |
| $1.25M–$2.5M | 25.5% | 42.8% |
| $2.5M–$5M | 21.1% | 35.4% |
| $5M–$10M | 14.7% | 29.2% |
| $10M–$25M | 13.7% | 26.3% |
| Over $25M | 9.0% | 20.5% |
§ 02 · Carrier breadthHow many appointments, by size.
Concentration mirrors breadth. Commercial-lines carrier counts run from about 14 at the smallest tier to 127 at the largest — a ninefold expansion. National carriers grow faster than regional ones with size; the smallest agencies lean relatively more on regional, state-focused carriers.
| Commercial P&C carriers (avg) | National | Regional | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1.25M | 9.4 | 4.8 | 14.2 |
| $2.5M–$5M | 13.2 | 11.7 | 24.9 |
| $5M–$10M | 28.4 | 10.2 | 38.6 |
| $10M–$25M | 39.9 | 22.7 | 62.6 |
| Over $25M | 88.4 | 38.6 | 127.0 |
§ 03 · The top-carrier line mixWhat the lead carrier writes.
The lead carrier's book changes character with agency size. At the smallest tier the top P&C carrier is personal-lines-heavy (53% personal); by the mid-tiers it flips to mid- and large-commercial dominance. Life-and-health carrier panels expand most aggressively at the top — from about 3.5 carriers at the smallest tier to 85 at the largest — driven by the group-benefits practices that scale with size.
- The steepest gradient in the study. Top-1 P&C dependency falls from 35.5% (smallest) to 9.0% (largest).
- Small agencies lean on three carriers. The smallest tier draws 52.9% of P&C commission from its top three.
- Breadth scales ninefold. Commercial carrier counts run 14 (smallest) to 127 (largest).
- National grows faster than regional. Larger agencies add national appointments disproportionately.
- The lead carrier flips with size. Personal-heavy at the bottom, mid/large-commercial at the top.
The benchmark is the baseline, not the price.
Best Practices benchmarks don't value an agency — they're the operating baseline a valuation is built on. Carrier concentration is a direct risk input: at a sub-$1.25M target, the top-3 carrier appointments drive over half the economics, so they become the primary diligence artifact — a buyer pressure-tests whether they transfer under the deal structure and change-of-control terms. A target with below-tier concentration reads as defensively diversified; one above it carries single-appointment risk a buyer prices.
The way carrier risk flows into deal structure is the financial & transactional mechanics reference, and the three-year drift is the 2024 carrier data.
What BPS measures. The Best Practices Study tracks the operating and financial results of top-performing agencies, segmented by revenue tier. This brief reflects the 2022 carrier section.
Concentration. The share of total P&C commission from the top-1 and top-3 carriers, on the full sample.
National vs. regional. The study doesn't publish a precise definition; national carriers are broadly distributed multi-line writers, regional carriers are state- or multi-state-focused.
Frequency. The study publishes annually. Milly Books refreshes this brief with each new edition.