Founder of The Hilb Group joins Virginia Beach firm as leader of mergers and acquisitions | Business News

“Early in 2021, I connected with Bob [Hilb] and we started working together on a consulting basis, and Bob was a huge help to me during some of the transactions,” Braun said.

In November, Northlane Capital Partners, a Bethesda, Md.-based private equity firm, made an investment in Choice Financial to help it continue its growth strategy.

Hilb said he joined Choice Financial because he admired Braun’s approach to building the business, making acquisitions and finding a strategic investor.

“When this started coming together, I was advising Richard as I had been as a consultant,” Hilb said. “He had a great process. He went out to nine different potential partners. He got six offers.”

Hilb and Braun said they expect to see continued consolidation in the insurance brokerage industry. There are roughly 36,000 independent brokerages, many of which have founders who are approaching retirement and looking for ways to maximize value from their businesses, Hilb said.

Braun said the company has not set a particular goal for the number of brokerages it wants to acquire.

“Our principal focus is making sure we have a good strategic fit,” he said. “We are looking for entrepreneurial principals who really want to join an organization and take it to the next level.”