The Hilb Group

The Hilb Group

The Hilb Group launched in 2009 in Richmond, Virginia, founded by Richard G. Spiro and R. Judson Elliott, Jr. Spiro, the CEO, brought over 30 years of insurance and financial-services experience, including a tenure as CFO of The Chubb Corporation, while Elliott, EVP of M&A, was a founding leadership-team member and former Marsh executive. The firm operates as a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group. The firm’s strategy is an acquisition-driven consolidation of entrepreneurial insurance brokerages spanning commercial lines, personal lines, employee benefits, and specialty coverage — more than 30 distinct areas of expertise. The group maintains over 185 branches nationally. Its service model pairs national brokerage resources with the local relationships of the acquired partners, targeting middle-market and private equity-backed clients. A focused unit serves fellow Carlyle portfolio companies, offering customized employee-benefits plan design, compliance guidance, and pharmacy contract negotiation. The Hilb Group counts 2,400-plus employees and operates in all 50 states. The firm ranked as a top-20 US insurance brokerage by the time of its most recent public disclosures. Its M&A function continues to be a primary growth vector, led by Elliott and SVP of M&A Ryan Havermann, a former Harris Williams & Co. investment banker, continuously sourcing and integrating agency acquisitions. The brokerage operates under private equity ownership by Carlyle, a structure that aligns its growth incentives with other Carlyle portfolio companies and gives it a specialized internal channel for cross-selling benefits and risk-management services. That shared-ownership model creates a unique sourcing pipeline within the broader Carlyle ecosystem, differentiating it from independently owned national consolidators.