Reagan Consulting review: agency valuation, M&A advice and fees
Reagan Consulting values insurance brokerages, plans ownership and leadership succession and advises sellers and buyers on deals. Its securities work runs through its own broker-dealer, Reagan Securities.
It focuses on property and casualty, benefits and personal lines brokers in the U.S. Valuation fees aren't published, and deal work combines hourly fees, retainers and success fees.
- Best for
- Established brokerages planning a perpetuation or a sale
- Works for
- Owners, sellers and buyers, depending on the engagement
- Services
- Valuation, perpetuation and leadership planning, sale and purchase advice, quality of earnings
- Success fee
- Fixed or a share of deal value, plus hourly fees and retainers
Our take
Reagan Consulting suits an established brokerage that wants valuation, perpetuation and deal advice from one firm. It says partners work on every project.
It is more open than most here about how it charges for deals. Its broker-dealer's filings say engagements use hourly fees, retainers and a success fee that is either fixed or a share of the deal value.
Reagan works for buyers as well as sellers, including banks and private brokers. It also runs the Best Practices Study with the Big I, a benchmark of how agencies perform.
Pros
- Full fair market valuations plus quicker value estimates
- Discloses its deal fee types: hourly, retainer and success fee
- Ownership, equity incentive and leadership succession planning
- Quality of earnings reviews before a deal
- Certified Valuation Analysts on the team
Cons
- Valuation fees aren't published
- Fee amounts and the tail period aren't published
- Represents buyers in other deals
- No published size range or minimum
Who they work for
Sellers
Reagan invites buyers, makes the financial adjustments, sets value and terms and guides the deal from start to close.
Buyers
It represents buyers such as banks and private brokers through a purchase.
Buyers are clients too. Reagan advises buyers in other deals and is paid partly through success fees. Ask whether any likely bidder for your agency is a current client.
Services
| Service | What you get |
|---|---|
| Fair market valuation | Full reports for stock transfers, buy-sell agreements, equity pay, ESOPs, taxes, deals and perpetuation |
| Value estimates | Quicker calculations of value from its valuation and deal data |
| Succession planning | Ownership perpetuation, equity incentive plans and building the next leadership team |
| Sale and purchase advice | Seller and buyer representation from first contact to closing |
| Capital and mergers | Debt and equity raising, plus value and structure for mergers |
| Due diligence | Quality of earnings reports and a check that pro forma results will hold after closing |
Agencies they work with
- Types
- Brokerages in commercial property and casualty, employee benefits and personal lines
- Where
- United States
How they value an agency
- Method
- Fair market value or a quicker estimate, with methods and assumptions matched to the purpose
- Benchmarks
- Its Best Practices Study of agency results
- Earnings measure
- Pro forma results, checked by quality of earnings work
- What adjusts the value
- Financial, production and operating results, measured against peers
Reagan uses quality of earnings work to test whether the pro forma numbers a deal rests on will last after closing.
Terms on this page in plain words
- Fair market value
- What the agency would sell for between a willing buyer and seller who both know the facts
- ESOP
- A plan that holds company stock for employees, sometimes used to buy out an owner
- Quality of earnings
- A check that the profit figures a deal rests on are real and will last
- Perpetuation
- Handing the agency to people inside it, such as producers, partners or family
- Success fee
- The advisor's fee that comes due only when a deal closes
- Retainer
- An advance or monthly fee for the advisor's time
- Tail
- A set period after the agreement ends when you still owe the fee if you sell to a buyer the advisor introduced
Valuation reports, cost and timing
- Report types
- Full fair market valuation report, calculation of value or other estimate and quality of earnings report
- Appraisers
- Brian Deitz, Brian McNeely, Harrison Brooks and Mark Crites are Certified Valuation Analysts
Selling your agency with them
Buyer invitations
Reagan invites buyers that fit your goals.
Adjustments
It makes the financial adjustments buyers will look for.
Value and terms
It negotiates value, terms and strategic fit with each bidder.
Through closing
It guides the deal end to end and keeps talks confidential.
Deal structure advice
In mergers, Reagan sets value and structure and helps negotiate leadership roles, pay, organization and branding.
Succession and after the sale
Reagan plans ownership perpetuation together with leadership succession, so the next owners are also ready to run the firm.
Equity incentive plans
Plans that give key staff a stake, so they stay and build value.
Leadership succession
Help building the leadership team that takes over.
Credentials and transactions
- Securities firm
- Reagan Securities, Inc., a wholly owned FINRA and SIPC member
- Research
- The Best Practices Study with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America
Recent transactions
| Deal | Year | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Lyons Companies to NFP, an Aon company | 2025 | Seller advisor |
| Sprague Israel Giles to World Insurance Associates | 2024 | Buyer advisor |
Fees and engagement terms
- Fee types
- Hourly fees, retainers and a success fee
- Success fee
- Fixed, or a share of the value the client receives when the deal closes
The amounts, expenses, exclusivity and tail are set in each agreement and aren't published. These fee types come from Reagan Securities' 2025 filing with the SEC.
Ask Reagan to state
- The hourly rate and any cap
- The retainer and whether it comes off the success fee
- Whether the success fee is fixed or a percentage, and of what
- Expenses, exclusivity and the tail
Reagan Consulting alternatives
- MarshBerryQuote onlyFour valuation scopes and one client per deal
- Sica | FletcherFees not publishedA founding partner leads every deal
- OPTIS PartnersQuote onlySmaller team, PACT perpetuation planning
- Mercer CapitalQuote onlyValuation firm with a stated turnaround
- Legacy AdvisorsFree first valuationSeller-only advisor paid only when the sale closes
See every option in insurance agency valuation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Reagan Consulting charge?
Valuation fees aren't on its site. Deal work uses hourly fees, retainers and a success fee that is fixed or a share of the deal value.
Does Reagan Consulting represent buyers or sellers?
Both, depending on the engagement. Its buyer clients include banks and private brokers.
Can Reagan help with perpetuation?
Yes. It plans ownership perpetuation along with equity incentive plans and leadership succession.
What is the Best Practices Study?
A benchmarking study Reagan runs with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, which it also uses in valuations.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the terms and product pages published by Reagan Consulting, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan Reagan Consulting quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where Reagan Consulting has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.