Selling an insurance book, an office, or an MGA.

Should I sell my book of business or the whole agency?

Selling only a book lets you keep the agency, its staff and its systems and sell just the client relationships — owners often do this with a book that isn't profitable to run. Selling the whole agency usually brings more in total, because it captures what can't be sold piecemeal: the brand, the reputation and the team (source).

	Sell a book	Sell the agency
You keep	The agency, staff, other books	Nothing, unless you stay on
Buyer pays for	The client relationships and renewals	Relationships, team, brand, systems
Usually priced on	Revenue of the book	Earnings (EBITDA) or revenue, by size
Good fit when	Pruning a line, a retiring producer, an unprofitable book	Retirement, succession, a partner exit

How are MGAs and program businesses valued?

MGAs and program administrators are valued on different things than retail agencies. Expect a buyer to focus on:

• Carrier and program agreements — their terms, length and whether they survive a change of control
• Binding and underwriting authority, and how it transfers
• Loss history on the programs you write
• Concentration in one carrier or one program
• The underwriting team and how much it depends on you

Fewer buyers acquire MGAs than retail agencies, which makes finding the right one more important. That's a conversation we have often.

Can I sell one office or one producer's book?

Multi-office agencies sometimes sell a location; producers with vested books sometimes sell theirs. Both are part-of-agency sales, and both depend on what your contracts say about who owns the accounts. Bring those agreements to the first call.