In Conversation with Risk & Insurance: CAC Specialty’s Mike Rice Details the Brokerage Firm’s Significant Growth

Dan Reynolds, editor-in-chief of Risk & Insurance, spent some time at RISKWORLD 2023 in Atlanta with Mike Rice, CEO, CAC Specialty.

Rice talked about how fortunate he feels to have been part of a specialty insurance brokerage startup that has really taken off. Rice spent 25 years with a larger broker, and having now been a part of a successful startup, he expressed he won’t be going back to a larger broker any time soon.

At the rate CAC Specialty is growing, Rice might find himself at the head of a large brokerage sooner than some might have anticipated. CAC Specialty, just three and a half years into its existence, is already registering in the $140 million in annual revenue range.

What’s now called the CAC Group was formed by a merger with Cobbs Allen in early 2023. The combined entity now has more than 440 employees. In the first quarter of 2023, Rice reported the company recorded $35 million in new business.

Headquartered in Denver, CAC Specialty places D&O and cyber coverage and has a sizable transactional liability business. Rice also said the company is working with some exciting new partners in renewables, augmenting its other energy business placements.

Despite CAC Specialty’s rapid run from the gate, Rice said his company faces the same challenge as many others do: recruiting and retaining new talent.

Although many insurers benefit from better investment returns during times of inflation, Rice said wage inflation and social inflation (outsized jury verdicts) should present difficulties for many insurers going forward.