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Rank 7
H. Wade Reece, chairman and CEO
BB&T INSURANCE SERVICES INC.
2010 GROSS REVENUES
$1,161,585,500
2010 BROKERAGE REVENUES
$1,078,576,900
Soft property/casualty pricing, declining insured values and a lack of attractive acquisition targets kept BB&T Insurance Services Inc.'s brokerage revenue essentially flat during 2010, but it is poised to resume growing this year, experts say
Raleigh, N.C.-based BB&T's brokerage revenue decreased less than one percentage point to $1.08 billion in 2010 vs. 2009, making it No. 7 in the 2011 Business Insurance ranking of the world's largest brokers.
Historically, the brokerage has grown through acquisition, averaging two to three purchases each year, according to industry analysts. But last year, it did not make a single purchase after completing just one in 2009.
"The acquisition market just was not that active," said H. Wade Reece, BB&T's chairman and CEO. "We're more of a strategic buyer. We tend to like larger deals. We really didn't see anything that fit strategically."
Kevin P. Fitzsimmons, managing director of equity research at Sandler O'Neill & Partners L.P. in New York, concurred. "The fundamentals aren't great in insurance right now. I suspect BB&T not doing any (deals) last year was because the down economy made it not a time when people wanted to sell," he said. "Or maybe they wanted to save their dry powder more for bank acquisitions."
But even its parent, BB&T Corp., made no acquisitions during 2010. According to the banking parent's annual report, it spent last year integrating its 2009 acquisition of Colonial Bank, which was twice the size of any...