This brief captures the 2024 Best Practices Study profile for the largest tier — the regional and super-regional brokers that anchor the top of the independent market. Read against the 2022 profile for the trajectory. Every figure here is a segment benchmark; the companion 2024 BPS tier reference explains how the tiers compare, and the year's narrative is the 2024 context.
§ 01 · ProfitabilityProfitability & the Rule of 20.
The lowest reported margin of the bands — a 21.9% Pro Forma EBITDA on the heaviest 64.1% compensation load — but a Rule of 20 of 22.3 clears the threshold, carried by strong, durable growth. Reported pre-tax profit (14.3%) sits far below the normalized figure.
| Metric | Average | Top quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Pro Forma EBITDA margin | 21.9% | 27.7% |
| Pre-tax profit | 14.3% | 21.9% |
| Rule of 20 score | 22.3 | 26.4 |
| Total Pro Forma compensation | 64.1% | — |
§ 02 · Revenue mixRevenue mix.
The most diversified book of any tier — commercial leads at 53.3%, personal lines fall to just 10.1%, and the benefits practice (group medical plus other group) clears a quarter of revenue.
| Line | % of revenue |
|---|---|
| Commercial lines | 53.3% |
| Group medical | 15.4% |
| Personal lines | 10.1% |
| All other group | 7.7% |
| Contingent / bonus | 6.7% |
Revenue mix, at a glance.
Commercial-dominant with a major benefits practice; personal lines a thin tail. Bar widths are exact percentages of revenue.
§ 03 · Growth & concentrationGrowth & account concentration.
Strong average organic growth (9.9%) and the lowest account concentration of any tier (9.4%). The band remains the most acquisitive — over a third completed an acquisition in the year, though down from 2022's near-half as rate-financed deal-making cooled.
| Metric | Average | Top quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Net-revenue organic growth | 9.9% | 14.0% |
| Net-revenue total growth | 10.5% | 14.1% |
| Top-10 accounts (% of commissions) | 9.4% | — |
| Agencies completing an acquisition | 36.2% | — |
§ 04 · ProductivityProductivity per person.
About 291.4 staff, with the highest revenue-per-employee of any band ($245,503) — the productivity ceiling of the independent channel.
| Metric | Average | Top quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue per employee | $245,503 | $269,782 |
| Spread per employee | $89,138 | $105,596 |
| Total staff (average) | 291.4 | — |
§ 05 · Producer pipeline & stabilityThe pipeline read.
A deep balance sheet (tangible net worth at 18.0% of revenue) on a 1.68 current ratio. The producer success rate eases to 47.3% at this scale of hiring, with a 49.4 producer age keeping recruiting and perpetuation central to the model.
| Metric | Average | Top quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Weighted-average producer age | 49.4 | — |
| 5-year producer success rate | 47.3% | 63.0% |
| NUPP (% of net revenue) | 1.4% | 2.2% |
| Current ratio | 1.68 | 2.10 |
| Tangible net worth (% of revenue) | 18.0% | 29.2% |
- Most diversified book. CL at 53.3%, a benefits practice over a quarter of revenue, and personal lines a thin 10.1% tail.
- Highest productivity. Revenue per employee of $245,503 — the channel's ceiling.
- Lowest concentration. Top-10 accounts at just 9.4% of commissions — the most defensible book.
- Most acquisitive. 36.2% completed an acquisition, though down from 2022 as rate-financed deals cooled.
- Heaviest cost base, lowest margin. A 21.9% Pro Forma EBITDA on a 64.1% compensation load.
- Strong organic growth. 9.9% average on the largest book in the study.
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. This tier is as much an acquirer as a target. For a seller at this scale, the figures that move a multiple are organic growth (9.9%), book diversification, and the lowest concentration in the study (9.4%) — a profile institutional and strategic buyers pay up for.
The largest single normalization in this band is executive compensation across a full management team — the gap between reported pay and market-rate replacement is the core of the Pro Forma bridge that lifts a 14.3% reported margin to a 21.9% normalized one. The companion financial & transactional mechanics reference walks it.
What BPS measures. The Best Practices Study tracks the operating and financial results of top-performing agencies nominated and designated through the study, segmented by revenue tier. This brief reflects the over-$25M band in the 2024 edition (calendar 2023 results).
Percentages of net revenue. Expense, compensation, and revenue-mix lines are expressed as a percentage of net revenue unless a dollar figure is shown.
Average and top quartile. The average is the segment standard; the top quartile is the aspirational stretch the study reports alongside it.
Frequency. The study publishes annually. Milly Books refreshes this brief with each new edition.