Top Specialist Wholesale Brokers in the USA

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The sense makers

Artificial intelligence has gone from buzzword to baseline in America’s insurance industry, and it has raised the question: If algorithms can read submissions, score risks, and match them to capacity, do we still need specialist wholesale brokers? The answer from the market and the data is a resounding yes, because a key part of their role is not to look back but to anticipate exposures clients haven’t seen. 

The standout operators are honored in Insurance Business America’s Top Specialist Wholesale Brokers 2026. 

For the seventh straight year, direct written premiums saw double-digit growth for US excess and surplus (E&S) insurers, according to Fitch Ratings in its latest annual market review. It’s also estimated that 91 percent of insurers have adopted AI technologies in some form, with the AI-in-insurance market forecast to grow from $7.7 billion in 2024 to more than $13 billion in 2026.  

As AI turbocharges data and options specialist wholesale brokers have become the sense makers, interpreting model outputs, reconciling them with real-world market nuance, and advising on when to override or supplement AI-driven decisions. The tech is increasing the premium on their judgments, which: 

• distinguish signal from noise (not at fault vs. systemic issues)
  
   

• construct a persuasive story underwriters will trust
  
   

• know when to escalate, challenge, and contextualize what raw data says 
  
   

For America’s top specialist wholesale brokers, their core role remains placing complex or hard-to-place risks, and AI is making this segment bigger. 

“In today’s complex market, strong expertise and technical skills are indispensable, especially when it comes to placing hard-to-place risks in the excess and surplus market,” says Mallorie Harper, managing director and head of wholesale distribution at Markel. 

Becky Tucker is a firm believer that technology has magnified and not diminished the value of specialist wholesale brokers. She stands out in her sector, the farm and agricultural space, because as more routine risks are commoditized by algorithms and portals, the more the market depends on Tucker and other human specialists to handle the unusual and hard-to-place. 

With admitted carriers retreating from agricultural business and capacity shrinking in traditional markets, risks are increasingly messy and bespoke, such as goat grazing operations on solar farms that need to be “translated” into a landscaping class code, or falconry-based rodent abatement that must be framed as pest control for underwriters to even consider it. 

Wholesure’s national farm & ag practice leader says, “Everything is changing and moving toward AI, but I want to be irreplaceable.” 

 

“Technology will always lack the lived experience of a broker who has built relationships with carriers and understands how underwriters think and what they want to see”

Becky TuckerWholesure

As a leading specialist wholesale broker, Tucker interprets reality, navigates carrier appetites, and converts unconventional exposures into insurable propositions. She insists that even in a technologically smart age, insurance remains “a very important, relationship-driven industry” – and where wholesale specialists come into their own.

For Tucker, the industry’s rapid pivot toward AI only accelerates a broader shift “toward specialties,” making deep niche expertise the best defense against being automated away. 

“There’s no question that the pressure to stand out is real – especially when technology is cheaper and faster –so developing specialist knowledge is increasingly important. Brokerage has always been, and will remain, a relationship-driven career,” she says. 

This is echoed by Eden Hancock, area senior vice president, transportation, at Risk Placement Services, who recounts her day-to-day of digging into million-dollar claims, reconciling DOT data with real-world operations and reshaping coverage around ever-shifting fleets. This is where AI generates more data, not more answers. 

 

“It’s about how you handle those tough situations with your underwriter, carrier, and agent. That really develops and builds trust”

Eden HancockRisk Placement Services 

Hancock probes deeper on behalf of her clients. 

“We have to be able to ask the questions, to build the narrative, to make sure our underwriters fully understand what’s going on. It’s the time we just have to devote to these insureds and we do that to make sure the insureds are getting the best possible solution.” 

Particularly with AI being increasingly powerful, Hancock has delivered success (50 percent year-over-year growth in 2024 and 20 percent growth in 2025) by remaining resolute with a customer-focused mindset and keeping communication open. 

“A lot of wholesalers just consider the agents their clients. I’ve heard competitors say that they don’t work an account until an agent is begging for a quote,” she says. “I don’t take that mentality. I know a good day for us is when we deliver for our agents.” 

Doubling down on being a specialist is important to EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants’ Kenneth C. Hegel Jr. While he admits AI has a role in analyzing data from both claims and underwriting/exposure perspectives, Hegel speaks to the “void” filled by brokers like him.

“Our expertise and specialization create tremendous value for our clients not only in terms of how we advise and service a client, but the proprietary products that we can offer,” says the middle market and specialty programs practice leader. 

Similarly showcasing his value in today’s AI age, James Ruhle, divisional vice president of advanced annuity at TruChoice Financial, emphasizes how important the human touch is. 

“You have to have that level of trust earned immediately, and you have to make a connection. You never get a second chance on a first impression,” he says. 

Although AI can monitor rates, reprice models, and flag new products, the competitive positioning where Ruhle specializes is based on experience and context, not just numbers. 

 

“If there’s one word that describes me, and I say this coming from agents that I work with, it’s being persistent. It’s just in my blood to stay the course regardless of challenges

or obstacles”

James RuhleTruChoice Financial

“We provide face-to-face value and ongoing personal interaction,” he says. “In the reality of the retirement world, there are constant changes in people’s lives, from changes to one’s health, spending habits, loss of a loved one, change in lifestyle, inflation that can happen overnight, and AI will not be able to take these sudden changes into account.” 

Tech can map networks, but who should buy which book, at what terms, and how to manage the transition of client relationships relies on tacit knowledge. 

“You got to be accessible and you got to pick up your phone. I pick up my phone when people call. The key is that you got to earn trust right off the gate and then, of course, do what you say you’re going to do. I don’t overpromise anything,” he explains. 

Part of Ruhle’s successful 12 months has been due to interest rates going up and annuity rates following suit. He seized on that and used his established network of being with the same firm for 23 years since college. And what really gave him a push was bringing over 150 new agents into production. 

“I just mass recruited and with the environment that we’re in and the competitiveness, expanding my wide net of opportunity in the right environments really helped me.” 

Jett Abramson, executive vice president and national construction practice leader, Amwins has faced a challenge of capacity on residential.

The ability to rely on London and Bermuda to some extent, which used to be normal, has largely disappeared for project specifics. He explained how he “hates being the tail that wags the dog” for clients by making them change their operational exposures.

“A carrier will say, ‘That’s too many homes or that’s too many units’. So, we try to get creative with the client on ways that we could approach phasing of the project and trying to put different carriers on different layers,” he explains. 

 

“I’ve always wanted to be the insurance person who also goes out and does the sales. That’s literally how I’ve built my career”

Jett AbramsonAmwins 

Echoing the need for specialists in the age of tech and AI, Abramson admits to spending a lot of time with underwriters.  

“I hang out with these people. We spend time together. You build that rapport and trust. You have the in-person time to actually get into the weeds on things,” he says. “Being with an underwriter in person with the files is literally the best way to get a result for your client –and I do more of that than most people.” 

And while AI can help suggest pathways forward or interpret forms, Abramson stresses his experience and ingenuity is what his clients really need. He asks them to lay out their coverage difficulties as that’s when he shines. 

“I tell a lot of my clients that know me well enough, ‘If you’re going to come to me with a problem, let me bring you the solution’ because it’s rare that I have a client who comes to me with a problem and a solution that they want me to execute.” 

The litmus test for IB America‘s Top Specialist Wholesale Brokers 2026 is how they handle hard-to-place risks. Below, some of the honorees outline challenging cases they’ve faced in the last year. 

A client was withdrawing too much income out of their retirement assets, well above the known four percent safe withdrawal rate rule.  

“I had to identify their life expectancy, understand their fixed expenses during retirement, which have increased significantly due to inflation, and help find ways to generate more guaranteed income from their current situation and retirement assets,” he says. 

The annuity product solutions his firm offered in the current, higher-rate environment provided more guaranteed income without having to reduce the client’s spending.   

The executive vice president, construction practice leader at Amwins Group describes working across the New York construction marketplace as “every day is a challenge”. 

One such case was being presented with an opportunity on a large street and road contractor. The challenge was that it dated in two days, the current excess carrier was non-renewing, and the underlying policy had a very large increase due to poor losses. Ricker was able to get the excess tower in place with a minimal increase over their expiring program.  

“We used three carriers to build a $10-million limit, but it worked out more favorably than other options that were presented. As a result, the insured still received a quality excess program with no disruption to their program. I used my market relationships, knowledge, and sweat equity to get it done,” he says. 

The construction specialist had a situation in which a client was performing work on projects where later phases could have a wrap-up present, but no wrap-up was present when they were performing their work; thus, they could not enroll. The version of the wrap-up exclusion they had on their policy applied if a wrap-up was present at the project. 

Abramson says, “I was able to manuscript acceptable residential exclusionary language that both satisfied the carrier and the client and utilize a more recent edition date of the ISO wrap-up exclusion, which provided the client coverage if they did not enroll in the wrap-up.” 

Then, a couple of months later, there was a new challenge as the client was facing subcontract agreements that required A/I status for entities without contractual privity, such as owners/developers, and the carrier wasn’t willing to amend their existing additional insured endorsement in the way the project owners requested.  

“With my knowledge of various additional insured endorsements, I was able to quickly find a form that both the carrier and owners could agree to, and solved the problem for the client,” says Abramson. “In today’s broking world, it is the specialist brokers who are typically the architects of solutions and is why specialization and expertise matter more than ever.” 

After reviewing the exposures of a new client who was outsourcing their manufacturing and distribution to third parties, Hegel and his team were able to help identify a significant contingent business interruption exposure they had and were unaware of.   

“The contract manufacturer they were using owned the actual formulations on several key products that the insured was selling,” he says. “Identifying that exposure not only helped us choose an adequate limit for contingent business interruption insurance, but also helped us work with the client to create a contingency plan with alternative manufacturers in the event that they lost this key supplier.” 

Tucker has had to tackle the problem of not a lot of markets wanting to do farming and agriculture. 

“Sometimes you have to be creative and work with your carrier on underwriting the risk and finding what to classify it as,” she says. 

Proving this, Tucker had an account that didn’t fit neatly into any single market due to the variety and complexity of exposures on the farm, including the acreage size and revenue involved.  

“I had to dig into each exposure to fully understand the risks and determine the best way to address them. After speaking with multiple carriers that specialize in farm risks, I was able to piece together several policies to ensure the operation was fully covered. While having multiple policies isn’t always ideal, leaving critical exposures uninsured is far worse,” she explains.

As tech and AI have boosted the quantity  and complexity of risk, the value of the Top Specialist Wholesale Brokers lies in interpreting these evolving exposures and structuring specialist coverage. They focus their personal value on judgment, context, creativity, relationships, and bespoke problem-solving –the parts AI is least suited for. 

“A strong reputation is critical. Building partnerships is extremely important and requires a level of trust and understanding,” adds Harper. 

The brokers recognized by IB America in this report are renowned for: 

• granular understanding of their niche
  
   

• structuring multicarrier towers and layered programs under extreme time pressure
  
   

• investing heavily in underwriter relationships, prioritizing accessibility and reliability
  
   

• anticipating exposures the client hasn’t seen