ITEM 1. BUSINESS
The Company
BRP Group, Inc. (“BRP Group,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a rapidly growing independent insurance distribution firm delivering solutions that give our Clients the peace of mind to pursue their purpose, passion and dreams. We support our Clients, Colleagues, Insurance Company Partners and communities through the deployment of vanguard resources and capital to drive organic and inorganic growth. When we consistently execute for these key stakeholders, we believe that the outcome is an increase in value for our fifth stakeholder, our shareholders. We are innovating the industry by taking a holistic and tailored approach to risk management, insurance and employee benefits. Our growth plan includes increased geographic representation across the U.S., expanded client value propositions and new lines of insurance to meet the needs of evolving lifestyles, business risks and healthcare funding. We are a destination employer supported by an award-winning culture, powered by exceptional people and fueled by industry-leading growth and innovation.
We represent over 600,000 Clients across the United States and internationally. Our more than 1,400 Colleagues include approximately 290 Risk Advisors, who are fiercely independent, relentlessly competitive and “insurance geeks.” We have approximately 80 offices in 18 states, all of which are equipped to provide diversified products and services to empower our Clients at every stage through our four Operating Groups.
In 2011, we adopted the “Azimuth” as our corporate constitution. Named after a historical navigation tool used to find “true north,” the Azimuth asserts our core values, business basics and stakeholder promises. The ideals encompassed by the Azimuth support our mission to deliver indispensable, tailored insurance and risk management insights and solutions to our Clients. We strive to be regarded as the preeminent insurance advisory firm fueled by relationships, powered by people and exemplified by client adoption and loyalty. This type of environment is upheld by the distinct vernacular we use to describe our services and culture. We are a firm, instead of an agency; we have Colleagues, instead of employees; and we have Risk Advisors, instead of producers/agents. We serve Clients instead of customers and we refer to our strategic acquisitions as Partnerships. We refer to insurance brokerages that we have acquired, or in the case of asset acquisitions, the producers, as Partners.
Human Capital
BRP is an independent Colleague-centric insurance advisory firm fueled by relationships, powered by people, and exemplified by our Colleagues’ ability to deliver tailored insurance and risk management insights and solutions to our Clients. Each team member plays a crucial role in helping us achieve our firm goals – we are Colleagues, not employees, and we believe in our motto of “better together”. Our success continues to be driven by our greatest asset, our talented team of Colleagues. We attract Colleagues who share our passion for nurturing relationships and focusing on service, and who are inspired by the core values outlined in our cultural guide, The Azimuth.
Powered by People
As of December 31, 2020, BRP had approximately 1,525 Colleagues, the vast majority of which are full-time. There were 1,464 full-time Colleagues (96% of total employee population), and 60 part-time Colleagues. The firm also partners with over 2,800 independent contracted agents, primarily supporting our Guided Medicare business.
We maintain a low turnover rate as demonstrated by a >80.0% annual retention rate of our Colleagues in 2020. BRP is a place for Colleagues to build a career, not just have a job, and we believe every Colleague should feel a sense of ownership in the firm. To promote that connection, we grant newly hired BRP Colleagues $1,500 equity in BRP stock.
We highly value the powerful and innovative results that come from seeking and weighing a broad range of perspectives and we strive to hire and promote talent that brings wide ranging diversity of thought, background, and experience.
•More than 50% of our executive leadership team joined BRP from other industries, bringing unique background and thoughtful insight on our continued best path to success.
•Women comprise 65.7% of our Colleague population; and 54% of our leadership positions are held by women.
•We benefit from a wide age range and experience level within the firm. We have a robust mix of entry-level and post-college Colleagues. In addition, more than 51% of our Colleagues are over the age of 51, which provides for a rich depth of experience. This balanced representation fosters our talent strategy of providing great mentoring and learning opportunities for our developing Colleagues.
•Our talent acquisition team continues to proactively source and contact underrepresented candidates as part of our recruiting process for open roles.
Despite the turmoil of the pandemic throughout 2020 and its negative economic impact on many industries, we did not institute any layoffs or furloughs or make any reductions to pay or benefits for our Colleagues as a result of COVID-19. To the contrary our BRP workforce continued to grow and we increased the number of new Colleagues hired in 2020 by 60% more than 2019. We also continued investing in the total rewards of our Colleagues by awarding full merit pay increases and bonuses in March 2020.
BRP continues to make additional investments in ensuring we remain competitive in attracting top talent, and effective April 1, 2021 we are pleased to report that all jobs within our firm will be valued at least $15.00 hour or more. We’re proud to be an employer leading by example when it comes to living wages.
Culture and Belonging
Part of being better together means we operate with transparency and strive to make it easy for others to know us and trust us by always doing the right thing in an open and authentic way. We actively seek out Colleagues’ input through our formal and anonymous PULSE survey, asking for feedback on a variety of topics including career path opportunities, trust in team and leadership, and feeling valued. The results of this annual pulse check are always shared with Colleagues and leadership so thoughtful and meaningful improvements can be made to enhance engagement.
Another way we aim to create a sense of belonging for our Colleagues is by striving to be a destination employer. We are continuously recognized for our people-first approach, our commitment to a culture of continuous learning, and for providing a place where our Colleagues learn, grow, and thrive.
•In 2020, BRP was Great Place to Work-Certified™ and recognized by Fortune as one of the Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance.
•BRP, along with its partner firms Burnham Benefits and AHT Insurance, was ranked by Business Insurance as one of the Best Places to Work in Insurance for high employee engagement and satisfaction.
•We have also been recognized by Top Workplaces USA as a 2021 nationally recognized employer for making the world a better place to work by prioritizing a people-centered culture and giving employees a voice.
We have a variety of ways we promote our culture, support our communities, and take care of each other within the BRP family.
•We sponsor a “Colleagues In Action” program that supports charities, events, and causes that are important and meaningful to our Colleagues.
•We promote our Colleagues actively participating in community outreach by providing 3 days of Community Service PTO (above and beyond their regular PTO bank).
•To help any qualifying Colleague experiencing extraordinary hardship, we set up the BRP True North Colleague Fund (operated by America’s Charities, a 501(c)(3) non-profit), to which Colleagues can also contribute by making a donation. BRP has pledged up to $250,000 to the fund and is honored to provide an additional dollar-for-dollar match for Colleague contributions up to another $250,000. In 2020, we processed 4 grant applications for our Colleagues.
•We believe in having fun at work and celebrating our successes by promoting peer recognition at all levels of the firm through our “Give a Wow” compliment program, and we also recognize outstanding Colleague performance through quarterly achievement awards called the “Azie All Star Award” (in conjunction with the Azimuth).
•We seized a spontaneous opportunity to promote work/life balance and mental health for our Colleagues in October 2020 by recognizing World Mental Health Day and closing our offices early on a Friday and encouraging Colleagues to spend a half-day focusing on their own well-being.
Nurture and Grow Talent
We care about our Colleagues and their families from a holistic perspective and genuinely believe that taking great care of our Colleagues allows them to live their best life. We offer comprehensive benefits such as health care and retirement savings through an employer-match 401(k) plan, along with a variety of other personalized benefits valued by our Colleagues, such as
•Summer-time half-day PTO days on Fridays (above and beyond the regular PTO bank);
•EAP services, including mental health;
•Telemedicine benefits at no cost for Colleagues and their direct family members;
•Expert referral services in legal and financial assistance;
•Company sponsored BRP Vitality Wellness Program, including a partnership with Peerfit to provide customizable fitness benefits for Colleagues;
•Health Savings Account with competitive employer contribution;
•Adoption assistance program;
•Parental leave for new parents; and
•Paid holidays and sick days.
To support the ongoing growth and development of our Colleagues, we provide education and training on a variety of topics, including technical, professional, and business development; leadership development; client service experience; regulatory and compliance topics.
•We offer a catalog of more than 650 training courses, all designed to support individual growth and development. Examples of topics include Emotional Intelligence, Managing Conflict, and Feedback Essentials.
•In early 2020 (prior to COVID-19), we conducted our annual 2-day in-person training event for risk advisors and operational leaders, and then in October 2020 we conducted our annual BRP Leadership Retreat by hosting a 2.5 day virtual training event (topics included insurance industry acumen, influential team leadership, leading the workforce and worker of the future). All levels of BRP leaders participate in the annual leadership retreat.
•For new and developing risk advisors, we offer a 10-week intensive training course that includes a combination of both on-line and instructor-led training aimed at developing their skills so they can be their best in providing exceptional service to our Clients.
•We also support the continuing education and certification needs of our Colleagues by providing access to a variety of technical training courses (examples of content include Cyber Risk Fundamentals, Professional Liability, Commercial Property).
We also promote Colleague growth and development through an ongoing performance feedback model, including 90-Day check-ins for newer Colleagues, and a formal annual year-end review process for all Colleagues. Our performance feedback processes enable every Colleague to have clear alignment with how we execute on our goals, maximize their performance potential, and also drive their own development and growth through individual development plans.
Cultivating an Ethical Environment for our Colleagues and Clients
We take our responsibility to operate with the highest level of integrity and foster an ethical environment for both our Colleagues and Clients very seriously. We have established numerous policies and procedures outlining our intention to live our values and do business in a responsible and ethical manner, including providing avenues for asking questions or reporting concerns about non-compliance. Many of these can be found publicly on our company website at baldwinriskpartners.com. Documented policies and procedures include, but are not limited to:
•The Azimuth (our cultural and corporate constitution, available on our Company website)
•Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (available in the “Governance” section of our Investor Relations website)
•Whistleblower Policy, which governs reporting of concern related to accounting, auditing and ethical violations (available in the “Governance” section of our Investor Relations website)
•Statement of Policy Concerning Trading in Company Securities, which prohibits Colleagues from trading BRP securities while in possession of Material Non-Public Information (available in the “Governance” section of our Investor Relations website)
•Privacy Policy, which governs how we handle personal client information in a responsible manner (available at the bottom of our Company homepage)
•Transparency & Disclosure Statement, which our commitment to fair dealings with our Clients (available at the bottom of our Company homepage)
•Anti-Corruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Policy, which defines our commitment to adhere to the FCPA and avoid corrupt business practices
Business Strategy
We believe we have all the core elements in place to achieve our goal of becoming one of the ten largest insurance brokers in the country within the next eight years. We play in the right niches, each with favorable growth trajectories and defensible market positions. We have a proven ability to hire and develop sales talent. Our Partnership model is seen as highly attractive to entrepreneurs and we believe it provides us access to an enormous market opportunity. Our shared services infrastructure, which we call Growth Services, fully supports our newly hired Colleagues and new Partners with back-office support, while simultaneously making them more efficient. Most importantly, we have fostered a highly differentiated culture guided by the Azimuth, which enhances our ability to develop new Risk Advisors, to complete new Partnerships with fast growing firms and to accelerate the growth of new Partners once onboarded on our platform.
We continually evolve our business through new Partnerships and we believe that our proven Partnership model provides continued opportunity for strong growth. In the United States, there are approximately 37,000 insurance brokers and, according to Optis Partners, over 700 were sold in 2020 and over 600 were sold in 2019. We carefully seek companies that have cultural congruency, distinguishing products or expertise and unique growth attributes and have consummated Partnerships with 42 firms since 2016. We believe there is an expansive universe of firms that could fit our target partner characteristics. Our differentiated value proposition as a “forever investor” offers new Partners the ability to continue to grow their business, benefit from the upside of their growth and partner with like-minded entrepreneurs who provide a long-term home for them. We also have a highly systematic and regimented integration process, supported by our integration team, the Navigators, which balances both efficiency and respect for our new Colleagues. Moving forward, we will continue to curate our portfolio to position us to grow. With our established presence in each of our target market segments, future additions to the business have the potential to be even more accretive than they were in the past. Given the sheer size of the insurance industry, we believe that we have the opportunity to target high-growth areas in the decades to come.
We continue to make the investments required to better service our Clients and establish a competitive advantage in the industry. Investments to date include the acquisition and buildout of MGA of the Future, the aggregation of Florida homeowners’ data to facilitate an A.M. Best-rated product and numerous applications related to compliance, risk control and client enrollment. MGA of the Future is a national renter’s insurance product distributed via sub-agent partners and property management software providers, which has expanded distribution capabilities for new products through the Company’s wholesale and retail networks. We also have the ability to develop de-novo products through MGA of the Future and distribute these products through the Middle Market and MainStreet Operating Groups, differentiating ourselves from the competition and providing ourselves favorable economic arrangements. The MGA of the Future is also launching a new flood solution in the first quarter of 2021 that is quote, bind, and issue in under 200 seconds. This product initially will be distributed through other BRP companies with a broader distribution plan for the future.
In 2020, we launched Guided Solutions (“Guided”), our new MainStreet and Medicare brand. Guided leverages innovative cloud-based technology to provide Clients with routine and predictable service and differentiated and holistic advice.
Partnerships
We utilize strategic acquisitions, which we refer to as Partnerships, to complement and expand our business. The financial impact of Partnerships may affect the comparability of our results from period to period. Our acquisition strategy also entails certain risks, including the risks that we may not be able to successfully source, close, integrate and effectively manage businesses that we acquire. To mitigate that risk, we have a professional team focused on finding new Partners and integrating new Partnerships. We plan to execute on numerous Partnerships annually as it is a key pillar in our long-term growth strategy over the next ten years.
We completed 16 Partnerships for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 billion during 2020 and six Partnerships for an aggregate purchase price of $174.1 million during 2019. We borrowed an additional $400.0 million under a new term loan facility maturing in 2027 (the “Term Loan B”) under the New JPM Credit Agreement and completed two follow-on public offerings for aggregate primary net proceeds of $449.7 million to assist with funding acquisitions during 2020.
Refer to Note 4 to BRP’s consolidated financial statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on the Partnerships that we have completed during 2020.
Industry
Our core products include commercial property and casualty insurance, employee benefits insurance and personal lines insurance. As a distributor of these products, we compete on the basis of reputation, client service, industry insights and know-how, product offerings, ability to tailor our services to the specific needs of a Client and, to a lesser extent, price of our services. In the United States, our industry is comprised of large, global participants, such as those described in Competition below. The remainder of our industry is highly fragmented and comprised of approximately 37,000 regional participants that vary significantly in size and scope.
In recent years, there has been notable merger and acquisition activity in the insurance brokerage space. Despite the recent consolidation in the insurance brokerage industry, the industry remains highly fragmented and the number of independent agencies has remained roughly constant since 2006. The fragmented industry landscape presents us with the opportunity to continue acquiring high-quality Partners.
Commission revenues are generally based on a percentage of the premiums paid by insureds and normally follow premium levels. Insurance premiums are cyclical in nature and may vary widely based on market conditions. Various factors, including competition for market share among underwriting enterprises, increased underwriting capacity and improved economies of scale following consolidations, can result in flat or reduced property/casualty premium rates (a “soft” market). A soft market tends to put downward pressure on commission revenues. Various countervailing factors, such as greater than anticipated loss experience, unexpected loss exposure and capital shortages, can result in increasing property/casualty premium rates (a “hard” market). A hard market tends to favorably impact commission revenues. Hard and soft markets may be broad-based or more narrowly focused across individual product lines or geographic areas. As markets harden, buyers of insurance (such as our brokerage Clients), have historically tried to mitigate premium increases and the higher commissions these premiums generate, including by raising their deductibles and/or reducing the overall amount of insurance coverage they purchase. As the market softens, or costs decrease, these trends have historically reversed. During a hard market, buyers may switch to negotiated fee in lieu of commission arrangements to compensate us for placing their risks, or may consider the alternative insurance market, which includes self-insurance, captives, rent-a-captives, risk retention groups and capital market solutions to transfer risk.
Commercial Property and Casualty Industry
Commercial property and casualty brokers provide businesses with access to property, professional liability, workers’ compensation, management liability, commercial auto insurance products as well as risk-management services. In addition to negotiating competitive policy terms on behalf of clients, insurance brokers also serve as a distribution channel for insurers and often perform much of the administrative functions. Insurance brokers generate revenues through commissions, calculated as percentage of total insurance premium, and through fees for management and consulting services. We have relationships with leading commercial writers, as well as regional insurers who have a presence in our target markets. We conduct commercial property and casualty business within our Middle Market, MainStreet and Specialty Operating Groups.
Employee Benefits Industry
Employee benefit advisors provide businesses and their employees with access to individual and group medical, dental, life and disability coverage. In addition to functioning as distributors, employee benefits brokers also provide assistance with benefit plan design. Employee benefits brokers’ capabilities often enable middle-market businesses to fully outsource their employee benefits program design, management and administration without committing internal resources or investing substantial capital in systems. Employee benefit advisors generate revenues through commissions and fees for management and consulting services. In recent years, as a result of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), healthcare has become increasingly more complex and the demand has grown for sophisticated employee benefits consultants. We expect this trend to continue and we remain well positioned as a result of our consistent investment in our employee benefits capabilities. We conduct employee benefits business within our Middle Market and MainStreet Operating Groups.
Personal Lines Industry
Personal lines brokers provide individual consumers with access to home, auto, umbrella and recreational insurance products. Similar to commercial lines agents, personal lines insurance agents generate revenues through commissions and fees for management and consulting services. We conduct this personal lines business within our Middle Market (high net worth), MainStreet and Specialty Operating Groups.
Medicare Industry
The Medicare industry is an approximately $850 billion market. The Medicare population is rapidly expanding as more baby boomers approach retirement; there are 10,000 U.S. senior citizens expected to reach retirement age every day for the next 10 years. The Medicare market is split between Original Medicare Plan, a fee-for-service plan managed by the federal government which represents approximately two-thirds of the market and Medicare Advantage, a rapidly growing private Medicare option representing approximately one-third of the market. Medicare advisors assist in determining optimal coverage based on an individual’s healthcare needs and spending limitations.
Competition
The business of providing insurance products and services is highly competitive. We compete for Clients on the basis of reputation, client service, program and product offerings and our ability to tailor products and services to meet the specific needs of a Client. We actively compete with numerous integrated financial services organizations as well as insurance companies and brokers, producer groups, individual insurance agents, investment management firms, independent financial planners and broker-dealers, including large, global participants, such as Aon plc, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. and Willis Towers Watson plc and mid-sized participants, such as Acrisure, LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., AssuredPartners, Inc., Brown & Brown Inc., Hub International Limited, USI, Inc., Lemonade, Inc., Goosehead Insurance, Inc. and Assurant, Inc.
Clients
Our Clients are highly diversified and include individuals, professionals, businesses, including those in niche industries, and specialty insurers. No material part of our business depends upon a single Client or on a few Clients. The loss of any one Client would not have a material adverse effect on our operations. In 2020, our largest single Client represented less than 1% of our combined revenues.
Operating Groups
Our business is divided into four Operating Groups: Middle Market, Specialty, MainStreet and Medicare.
We earn commissions and fees by facilitating the arrangement between Insurance Company Partners and individuals or businesses for the carrier to provide insurance to the insured party. Our commissions and fees are usually a percentage of the premium paid by the insured and generally depends on the type of insurance, the particular Insurance Company Partner and the nature of the services provided. Under certain arrangements with Clients, we earn pre-negotiated service fees in lieu of commissions. Additionally, we may also receive from Insurance Company Partners a profit-sharing commission, or straight override, which represent forms of variable consideration associated with the placement of coverage and are based primarily on underwriting results, but may also contain considerations for volume, growth or retention.
The Middle Market Operating Group provides expertly-designed private risk management, commercial risk management and employee benefits solutions for mid-to-large-size businesses and high net worth individuals, as well as their families.
The Specialty Operating Group delivers specialty insurers, professionals, individuals and niche industry businesses expanded access to exclusive specialty markets, capabilities and programs requiring complex underwriting and placement. Specialty also represents a leading technology platform. MGA of the Future is a national renter’s insurance product distributed via sub-agent partners and property management software providers, which has expanded distribution capabilities for new products through our wholesale and retail networks.
The MainStreet Operating Group offers personal insurance, commercial insurance and life and health solutions to individuals and businesses in their communities.
The Medicare Operating Group offers consultation for government assistance programs and solutions, including traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, to seniors and Medicare-eligible individuals through a network of agents. In the Medicare Operating Group, BRP generates commissions and fees in the form of direct bill insurance placement and marketing income. Marketing income is earned through co-branded marketing campaigns with our Insurance Company Partners.
Seasonality
The insurance brokerage market is seasonal and our results of operations are somewhat affected by seasonal trends. Our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margins are typically highest in the first quarter and lowest in the fourth quarter. This variation is primarily due to fluctuations in our revenues, while overhead remains consistent throughout the year. Our revenues are generally highest in the first quarter due to the impact of contingent payments received in the first quarter from Insurance Company Partners that we cannot readily estimate before receipt without the risk of significant reversal and a higher degree of first quarter policy commencements and renewals in Medicare and certain Middle Market lines of business such as employee benefits and commercial. In addition, a higher proportion of our first quarter revenue is derived from our highest margin businesses. As discussed further below, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may skew these general trends due to reduced amounts of new business and reductions in business from existing Clients related to the ongoing pandemic.
Partnerships can significantly impact Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margins in a given year and may increase the amount of seasonality within the business, especially results attributable to Partnerships that have not been fully integrated into our business or owned by us for a full year.
Regulation
Our activities in connection with insurance brokerage services are subject to regulation and supervision by state authorities. State insurance laws are often complex and generally grant broad discretion to supervisory authorities in adopting regulations and supervising regulated activities, which generally includes the licensing of insurance brokers and agents, intermediaries and third-party administrators. Our continuing ability to provide insurance brokerage in the states in which we currently operate is dependent upon our compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the regulatory authorities in each of these states.
The health insurance industry is heavily regulated by the ACA, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and state jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction has its own rules and regulations relating to the offer and sale of health insurance plans, typically administered by a department of insurance. We are required to maintain valid life or health agency or agent licenses in each jurisdiction in which we transact health insurance business.
Regulations and guidelines issued by CMS place a number of requirements on health insurance carriers and agents and brokers in connection with the marketing and sale of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. We are subject to similar requirements of state insurance departments with respect to our marketing and sale of Medicare Supplement plans. CMS and state insurance department regulations and guidelines include a number of prohibitions regarding the ability to contact Medicare-eligible individuals and place many restrictions on the marketing of Medicare-related plans. In addition, the laws and regulations applicable to the marketing and sale of Medicare-related plans are ambiguous, complex and, particularly with respect to regulations and guidance issued by CMS for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, change frequently.
We are subject to federal law and the laws of many states that require financial institutions to protect the security and confidentiality of customer information, notify customers about their policies and practices relating to collection, disclosure and security of customer information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and regulations adopted pursuant to HIPAA require us to maintain the privacy of individually-identifiable health information that we collect on behalf of health insurance carriers, implement measures to safeguard such information and provide notification in the event of a breach in the privacy or confidentiality of such information. The use and disclosure of certain data that we collect from consumers is also regulated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) and state statutes implementing GLBA, which generally require brokers to provide customers with notice regarding how their non-public personal health and financial information is used and the opportunity to “opt out” of certain disclosures before sharing such information with a third party, and which generally require safeguards for the protection of personal information.
As a publicly-traded company, we are required to file certain reports, and are subject to various marketing restrictions, among other requirements, in connection with the SEC regulations.
Initial Public Offering and Internal Reorganization
On October 28, 2019, BRP Group completed an initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of its Class A common stock, in which it sold 18,859,300 shares, including 2,459,300 shares pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option, which subsequently settled on November 26, 2019. The shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on October 24, 2019. The shares were sold at an initial offering price of $14.00 per share for net proceeds of $241.4 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $17.8 million and net offering expenses of $4.8 million.
BRP Group, which was incorporated in the state of Delaware on July 1, 2019, was formed for the purpose of completing the Initial Public Offering and related transactions in order to carry on the business of Baldwin Risk Partners, LLC (“BRP”) as a publicly-traded entity. In connection with the Initial Public Offering, BRP Group and BRP entered into a series of transactions to implement an internal reorganization (the “Reorganization Transactions”) as follows:
•BRP amended and restated its amended and restated limited liability company agreement (the “Amended LLC Agreement”) to, among other things, appoint BRP Group as the sole managing member of BRP and to modify BRP’s capital structure to reclassify the equity interests into a single class of LLC units (the “LLC Units”);
•as sole managing member of BRP, BRP Group consolidates the financial results of BRP and a portion of the net income is allocated to the noncontrolling interest to reflect the entitlement of the owners of BRP’s outstanding equity interests (“BRP’s LLC Members”) to a portion of BRP’s net income;
•through a series of internal transactions, BRP issued LLC Units to equity holders of its Partners (other than certain joint ventures) in exchange for all the equity interests in such Partners not held by BRP prior to such exchange;
•BRP Group’s certificate of incorporation authorized the issuance of two classes of common stock including Class A common stock and Class B common stock, each of which entitles its holder to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders;
•each of the owners of BRP LLC Units prior to the Initial Public Offering (the “Pre-IPO LLC Members”) was issued shares of BRP Group’s Class B common stock in an amount equal to the number of LLC Units held by each such member following the reclassification of the equity interest into LLC Units;
•under the Amended LLC Agreement, BRP’s LLC Members have the right to require BRP to redeem all or a portion of their LLC Units for, at BRP Group’s election, newly-issued shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis or a cash payment;
•BRP Group and the Pre-IPO LLC Members entered into the Stockholders Agreement, which provides that approval by Pre-IPO LLC Members is required for certain corporate actions;
•BRP Group used the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering to acquire 14,000,000 newly-issued LLC Units from BRP, 1,800,000 LLC Units from Lowry Baldwin, our Chairman, and 600,000 LLC Units from The Villages Invesco, LLC (“Villages Invesco”), one of our significant shareholders, at a purchase price per LLC Unit equal to the initial public offering price of Class A common stock after underwriting discounts and commissions; and
•BRP Group entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement, which provides for payment by BRP Group to BRP’s LLC Members of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that BRP Group actually realizes.
In connection with the Initial Public Offering, BRP Group issued one share of Class B common stock to Pre-IPO LLC Members for each LLC Unit held by such BRP LLC Members. BRP Group issues one share of Class B common stock for each LLC Unit that BRP issues. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended LLC Agreement, shares of Class B common stock will be canceled on a one-for-one basis with the redemption or exchange of LLC Units of BRP’s LLC Members. As a result, the number of shares of Class B common stock will continue to increase with each Partnership in which we issue a noncontrolling interest, which will dilute the ownership interest of the Company’s Class A common stockholders.
Effects of the Reorganization on our Corporate Structure
BRP Group was formed for the purpose of the Initial Public Offering and has engaged to date only in activities relating to BRP. BRP Group is a holding company and its sole material asset is a controlling ownership and profits interest in BRP. All of our business is conducted through BRP and its consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates, and the financial results of BRP and its consolidated subsidiaries will be included in the consolidated financial statements of BRP Group.
BRP is currently taxed as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and, as a result, its members, including BRP Group, Inc., pay taxes with respect to their allocable shares of its net taxable income. We expect that redemptions and exchanges of LLC Units will result in increases in the tax basis in our share of the tangible and intangible assets of BRP that otherwise would not have been available. These increases in tax basis may reduce the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. The Tax Receivable Agreement requires BRP Group to pay 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize to BRP’s LLC Members. Furthermore, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will give rise to additional tax benefits and therefore additional payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement itself.
Follow-On Public Equity Offerings
On June 29, 2020, BRP Group completed a public offering of 13,225,000 shares of its Class A common stock, including 1,725,000 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option. The shares were sold at an offering price of $13.25 per share for net proceeds of $166.5 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $7.9 million and offering expenses of $798,000.
On December 11, 2020, BRP Group completed a public offering of 10,062,500 shares of its Class A common stock, including 1,312,500 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option. The shares were sold at an offering price of $29.50 per share for net proceeds of $283.2 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $12.6 million and offering expenses of $1.1 million.
Available Information
We make available free of charge our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. To access these filings, go to our website at ir.baldwinriskpartners.com, click on “Financials” and then click on “SEC Filings.” We also make available other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act, including our proxy statements and reports filed by officers and directors under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, as well as our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, our Insider Trading and Whistleblower Policies, and charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Executive Committee. To access these filings, go to our website, click on “Governance” and then click on “Governance Overview.” In addition, our website may include disclosure relating to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we may make public orally, telephonically, by webcast, by broadcast or by similar means from time to time.
We may use our website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible on our website. Any information on our website or obtained through our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our Investor Relations Department can be contacted at ir@baldwinriskpartners.com by clicking on “Resources” and then “Contact IR,” or by telephone at (813) 259-8032.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Summary Risk Factors
Some of the factors that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects, include the following:
•The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could result in declines in business and increases in claims that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Macroeconomic conditions, political events, other market conditions around the world and a decline in economic activity could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
•Volatility or declines in premiums or other adverse trends in the insurance industry may seriously undermine our profitability.
•Quarterly and annual variations in our commissions that result from the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business production may have unexpected effects on our results of operations.
•Our business is subject to risks related to legal proceedings and governmental inquiries.
•Conditions impacting our Insurance Company Partners or other parties that we do business with may impact us.
•Regulations affecting Insurance Company Partners with which we place insurance affect how we conduct our operations.
•Competition in our industry is intense and, if we are unable to compete effectively, we may lose Clients and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively affected.
•E&O claims may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Security or data breaches of our information processing systems may hurt our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Our inability to successfully recover should we experience a disaster or other business continuity problem could cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm or legal liability.
•If we are unable to apply technology effectively in driving value for our Clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the application of technology and related tools, our results of operations, Client relationships, growth and compliance programs could be adversely affected.
•Damage to our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our business.
•Our inability to retain or hire qualified employees, as well as the loss of any of our executive officers, could negatively impact our ability to retain existing business and generate new business.
•The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, could result in declines in business and increases in claims that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Non-compliance with or changes in laws, regulations or licensing requirements applicable to us could restrict our ability to conduct our business.
•We may not be able to successfully identify and acquire Partners or integrate Partners into our company, and we may become subject to certain liabilities assumed or incurred in connection with our Partnerships that could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
•We have debt outstanding that could adversely affect our financial flexibility and subjects us to restrictions and limitations that could significantly impact our ability to operate our business.
•Because our business is highly concentrated in the Southeastern United States, adverse economic conditions, natural disasters, loss trends or regulatory changes in this region could adversely affect our financial condition.
•We derive a significant portion of our commissions and fees from a limited number of our Insurance Company Partners, the loss of which would result in additional expense and loss of market share.
•We rely on third parties to perform key functions of our business operations, enabling our provision of services to our Clients. These third parties may act in ways that could harm our business.
•Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture, or if we experience a change in management, management philosophy or business strategy, our business may be harmed.
•Failure to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or allegations that we have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others, could harm our reputation, ability to compete effectively, business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Improper disclosure of confidential, personal or proprietary data could result in regulatory scrutiny, legal liability, reputational harm, lost revenue, and remediation costs, and could have an adverse effect on our business or operations.
•We are a holding company with our principal asset being our 47% ownership interest in BRP; accordingly, we are dependent upon distributions from BRP to pay dividends, if any, and taxes, make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and pay other expenses.
•BRP may be required to make distributions to us and the other holders of LLC Units, and the distributions that BRP will be required to make may be substantial.
•Although we are no longer a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules, we are in the phase-in period provided by Nasdaq rules, and, as a result, we qualify for, and will rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to the stockholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.
•We will be required to pay BRP’s LLC Members and any other persons that become parties to the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits we may receive, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.
•We may issue a substantial amount of our common stock in the future, which could cause dilution to investors and otherwise adversely affect our stock price.
•We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
•We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could and resulting government actions (including travel bans, lock downs, maximum occupancy limits and similar actions) could result in declines in business and increases in claims that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The global spread of COVID-19 (including potentially more contagious strains of COVID-19 such as those recently detected in the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil) has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption and continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business will depend on future developments in the United States, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including:
•the continued geographic spread and severity of COVID-19;
•the duration and scope of the pandemic;
•business closures, travel restrictions, social distancing and other governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken to contain and treat COVID-19;
•the effectiveness of new vaccines and medications to contain and treat the virus;
•the impact of the pandemic on economic activity and actions taken in response;
•the ability of our Clients to pay their insurance premiums which could impact our commission and fee revenues for our services;
•the nature and extent of possible claims that might impact the ability of underwriting enterprises to pay supplemental and contingent commissions;
•any increase in the incidence or severity of E&O claims against us; and
•any impairment in value of our tangible or intangible assets which could be recorded as a result of weaker economic conditions.
As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread globally, we may experience disruptions to our business, including:
•our Clients choosing to limit purchases of insurance due to declining business conditions, our Clients ceasing their business operations on a temporary or permanent basis, and a reduction in our Client’s insurable exposure units (such as headcount, payroll, properties, market values of their assets, and plant, equipment and other asset utilization levels, among other factors), all of which would inhibit our ability to generate commission revenue and other revenue based on premiums placed;
•a delay in cash payments to us from our Clients or Insurance Company Partners due to COVID-19 (including any delays caused by “grace periods” on the collection of insurance premiums declared or proposed by governmental entities), which could negatively impact our liquidity and financial condition;
•continued travel restrictions and quarantines, which could hinder our ability to establish relationships or originate new business; and
•continued alternative working arrangements, including Colleagues working remotely, which could negatively impact our business should such arrangements remain for an extended period of time.
We cannot predict the impact that COVID-19 will have on our Clients, Insurance Company Partners, suppliers or other third- party contractors, and any material effect on these parties or their financial condition, could adversely impact us.
In addition, if the pandemic continues to create disruptions or turmoil in the credit or financial markets, it could adversely affect our ability to access capital on favorable terms, or at all, and continue to meet our liquidity needs, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
These and other developments and disruptions related to COVID-19 could contribute to the risks enumerated below and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Macroeconomic conditions, political events, other market conditions around the world and a decline in economic activity could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Macroeconomic conditions, political events and other market conditions around the world affect the financial services industry. These conditions may reduce demand for our services or depress pricing for those services, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Changes in macroeconomic and political conditions, such as the impact from COVID-19 could also shift demand to services for which we do not have a competitive advantage, and this could negatively affect the amount of business that we are able to obtain. Any changes in U.S. trade policy could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries, resulting in “trade wars,” which could affect volume of economic activity in the U.S., including demand for our services.
In addition to macroeconomic and political conditions, other factors, such as business commissions and fees, microeconomic conditions, the volatility and strength of the capital markets and inflation, can affect the business and economic environment. The demand for insurance generally rises as the overall level of economic activity increases and generally falls as such activity decreases, affecting both the commissions and fees generated by our Middle Market, MainStreet, Medicare and Specialty Operating Groups. Downward fluctuations in the year-over-year insurance premiums charged by our Insurance Company Partners to protect against the same risk, referred to in the industry as softening of the insurance market, could adversely affect our business as a significant portion of the earnings are determined as a percentage of premium charged to our Clients. Insolvencies and consolidations associated with an economic downturn could adversely affect our brokerage business through the loss of Clients by hampering our ability to place insurance business. Errors and omissions claims against us, which we refer to as E&O claims, may increase in economic downturns, adversely affecting our brokerage business. Also, the volatility or decline of economic or other market conditions could result in the increased surrender of insurance products or cause individuals to forgo insurance, thereby impacting our contingent commissions, which are primarily driven by our Insurance Company Partners’ growth and profitability metrics. A decline in economic activity could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Volatility or declines in premiums or other adverse trends in the insurance industry may seriously undermine our profitability.
We derive most of our commissions and fees from our brokerage services. We do not determine the insurance premiums on which our commissions are generally based. Moreover, insurance premiums are cyclical in nature and may vary widely based on market conditions. Because of market cycles for insurance product pricing, which we cannot predict or control, our brokerage commissions and fees and profitability can be volatile or remain depressed for significant periods of time. In addition, there have been and may continue to be various trends in the insurance industry toward alternative insurance markets, including, among other things, greater levels of self-insurance, captives, rent-a-captives, risk retention groups and non-insurance capital markets-based solutions to traditional insurance.
As traditional risk-bearing insurance companies continue to outsource the production of premium commissions and fees to non-affiliated brokers or agents such as us, those insurance companies may seek to further minimize their expenses by reducing the commission rates payable to insurance brokers or agents. The reduction of these commission rates, along with general volatility or declines in premiums, may significantly affect our profitability. Because we do not determine the timing or extent of premium pricing changes, it is difficult to precisely forecast our commission and contingent commissions and fees, including whether they will significantly decline. As a result, we may have to adjust our budgets for future acquisitions, capital expenditures, dividend payments, loan repayments and other expenditures to account for unexpected changes in commissions and fees, and any decreases in premium rates may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Because the commissions and fees we earn on the sale of certain insurance products is based on premiums and commission rates set by our Insurance Company Partners, any decreases in these premiums or commission rates, or actions by our Insurance Company Partners seeking repayment of commissions, could result in commissions and fees decreases or expenses to us.
We derive commissions and fees from the sale of insurance products that are paid by our Insurance Company Partners from whom our Clients purchase insurance. Because payments for the sale of insurance products are processed internally by our Insurance Company Partners, we may not receive a payment that is otherwise expected in any particular period until after the end of that period, which can adversely affect our ability to budget for significant future expenditures. Additionally, our Insurance Company Partners or their affiliates may, under certain circumstances, seek the chargeback or repayment of commissions as a result of policy lapse, surrender, cancellation, rescission, default or upon other specified circumstances. As a result of the chargeback or repayment of commissions, we may incur an expense in a particular period related to commissions and fees previously recognized in a prior period and reflected in our financial statements. Such an expense could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, particularly if the expense is greater than the amount of related commissions and fees retained by us.
The commission rates are set by our Insurance Company Partners and are based on the premiums that the Insurance Company Partners charge. The potential for changes in premium rates is significant, due to pricing cyclicality in the insurance market. In addition, the insurance industry has been characterized by periods of intense price competition due to excessive underwriting capacity and periods of favorable premium levels due to shortages of capacity. Capacity could also be reduced by our Insurance Company Partners’ failing or withdrawing from writing certain coverages that we offer our Clients. Commission rates and premiums can change based on prevailing legislative, economic and competitive factors that affect our Insurance Company Partners. These factors, which are not within our control, include the capacity of our Insurance Company Partners to place new business, underwriting and non-underwriting profits of our Insurance Company Partners, consumer demand for insurance products, the availability of comparable products from other insurance companies at a lower cost and the availability of alternative insurance products, such as government benefits and self-insurance products, to consumers. We cannot predict the timing or extent of future changes in commission rates or premiums or the effect any of these changes will have on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Quarterly and annual variations in our commissions that result from the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business production may have unexpected effects on our results of operations.
Our commission income (including profit-sharing contingent commissions and override commissions) can vary quarterly or annually due to the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business production. We do not control the factors that cause these variations. Specifically, Clients’ demand for insurance products can influence the timing of renewals, new business and lost business (which includes policies that are not renewed), and cancellations. In addition, we rely on our Insurance Company Partners for the payment of certain commissions. Quarterly and annual fluctuations in commissions and fees based on increases and decreases associated with the timing of new business, policy renewals and payments from our Insurance Company Partners may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Profit-sharing contingent commissions are special revenue-sharing override commissions paid by our Insurance Company Partners based on the profitability, volume or growth of the business placed with such companies generally during the prior year. These are not guaranteed payments and our Insurance Company Partners may change the calculations or potentially elect to stop paying them at all on an annual basis. Over the last two years these commissions generally have been in the range of 7.5% to 9.5% of our previous year’s total core commissions and fees. Increases in loss ratios experienced by our Insurance Company Partners will result in a decreased profit to them and may result in decreases in payments of contingent or profit-sharing commissions to us. Due to, among other things, potentially poor macroeconomic conditions, the inherent uncertainty of loss in our Clients’ industries and changes in underwriting criteria, due in part to the high loss ratios experienced by our Insurance Company Partners, we cannot predict the payment of these profit-sharing contingent commissions. Further, we have no control over the ability of our Insurance Company Partners to estimate loss reserves, which affects our ability to make profit-sharing calculations. Override commissions are paid by our Insurance Company Partners based on the volume of business that we place with them and are generally paid over the course of the year or in the beginning of the following year. Because profit-sharing contingent commissions and override commissions materially affect our commissions and fees, any decrease in their payment to us could adversely affect our results of operations, profitability and our financial condition.
See Item 1A. “Risk Factors - Risks Relating to our Business - Because our business is highly concentrated in the Southeastern United States, adverse economic conditions, natural disasters, loss trends or regulatory changes in this region could adversely affect our financial condition.”
Our business is subject to risks related to legal proceedings and governmental inquiries.
We are subject to litigation, regulatory investigations and claims arising in the ordinary course of our business operations. The risks associated with these matters often may be difficult to assess or quantify and the existence and magnitude of potential claims often remain unknown for substantial periods of time. While we have insurance coverage for some of these potential claims, others may not be covered by insurance, insurers may dispute coverage or any ultimate liabilities may exceed our coverage. We may be subject to actions and claims relating to the sale of insurance, including the suitability of such products and services. Actions and claims may result in the rescission of such sales; consequently, our Insurance Company Partners may seek to recoup commissions paid to us, which may lead to legal action against us. The outcome of such actions cannot be predicted and such claims or actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations, as well as regulatory investigations. The insurance industry has been subject to a significant level of scrutiny by various regulatory bodies, including state Attorneys General offices and state departments of insurance, concerning certain practices within the insurance industry. These practices include, without limitation, the receipt of contingent commissions by insurance brokers and agents from insurance companies and the extent to which such compensation has been disclosed, the collection of agency fees, which we define as fees separate from commissions charged directly to Clients for efforts performed in the issuance of new insurance policies, bid rigging and related matters. From time to time, our subsidiaries receive informational requests from governmental authorities.
There have been a number of revisions to existing, or proposals to modify or enact new, laws and regulations regarding insurance agents and brokers. These actions have imposed or could impose additional obligations on us with respect to our products sold. Some insurance companies have agreed with regulatory authorities to end the payment of contingent commissions on insurance products, which could impact our commissions that are based on the volume, consistency and profitability of business generated by us.
We cannot predict the impact that any new laws, rules or regulations may have on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Given the current regulatory environment and the number of our subsidiaries operating in local markets throughout the country, it is possible that we will become subject to further governmental inquiries and subpoenas and have lawsuits filed against us. Regulators may raise issues during investigations, examinations or audits that could, if determined adversely, have a material impact on us. The interpretations of regulations by regulators may change and statutes may be enacted with retroactive impact. We could also be materially adversely affected by any new industry-wide regulations or practices that may result from these proceedings.
Our involvement in any investigations and lawsuits would cause us to incur additional legal and other costs and, if we were found to have violated any laws, we could be required to pay fines, damages and other costs, perhaps in material amounts. Regardless of final costs, these matters could have a material adverse effect on us by exposing us to negative publicity, reputational damage, harm to client relationships or diversion of personnel and management resources.
Conditions impacting our Insurance Company Partners or other parties that we do business with may impact us.
We have a significant amount of accounts receivable from our Insurance Company Partners with which we place insurance. If those Insurance Company Partners were to experience liquidity problems or other financial difficulties, we could encounter delays or defaults in payments owed to us, which could have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. The potential for one of our Insurance Company Partners to cease writing insurance we offer our Clients could negatively impact overall capacity in the industry, which in turn could have the effect of reduced placement of certain lines and types of insurance and reduced commissions and fees and profitability for us. Questions about one of our Insurance Company Partners’ perceived stability or financial strength may contribute to such Insurance Company Partners’ strategic decisions to focus on certain lines of insurance to the detriment of others. The failure of an Insurance Company Partner with which we place insurance could result in E&O claims against us by our Clients, and the failure of our Insurance Company Partners could make the E&O insurance we rely upon cost prohibitive or unavailable, which could have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if any of our Insurance Company Partners merge or if one of our large Insurance Company Partners fails or withdraws from offering certain lines of insurance, overall risk-taking capital capacity could be negatively affected, which could reduce our ability to place certain lines of insurance and, as a result, reduce our commissions and fees and profitability. Such failures or insurance withdrawals on the part of our Insurance Company Partners could occur for any number of reasons, including large unexpected payouts related to climate change or other emerging risk areas.
Regulations affecting Insurance Company Partners with which we place insurance affect how we conduct our operations.
Our Insurance Company Partners are also regulated by state departments of insurance for solvency issues and are subject to reserve requirements. We cannot guarantee that all Insurance Company Partners with which we do business comply with regulations instituted by state departments of insurance. We may need to expend resources to address questions or concerns regarding our relationships with these Insurance Company Partners, which diverts management resources away from business operations.
Competition in our industry is intense and, if we are unable to compete effectively, we may lose Clients and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively affected.
The business of providing insurance products and services is highly competitive and we expect competition to intensify. We compete for clients on the basis of reputation, client service, program and product offerings and our ability to tailor products and services to meet the specific needs of a client.
We actively compete with numerous integrated financial services organizations as well as insurance companies and brokers, producer groups, individual insurance agents, investment management firms, independent financial planners and broker-dealers. Competition may reduce the fees that we can obtain for services provided, which would have an adverse effect on commissions and fees and margins. Many of our competitors have greater financial and marketing resources than we do and may be able to offer products and services that we do not currently offer and may not offer in the future. To the extent that banks, securities firms, insurance companies’ affiliates and the financial services industry may experience further consolidation (such as the pending merger between Aon plc and Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company), we may experience increased competition from insurance companies and the financial services industry, as a growing number of larger financial institutions increasingly, and aggressively, offer a wider variety of financial services, including insurance intermediary services. In addition, a number of insurance companies are engaged in the direct sale of insurance, primarily to individuals, and do not pay commissions to brokers.
In addition, new competitors, alliances among competitors or mergers of competitors could emerge and gain significant market share, and some of our competitors may have or may develop a lower cost structure, adopt more aggressive pricing policies or provide services that gain greater market acceptance than the services that we offer or develop. Competitors may be able to respond to the need for technological changes and innovate faster, or price their services more aggressively. They may also compete for skilled professionals, finance acquisitions, fund internal growth and compete for market share more effectively than we do. To respond to increased competition and pricing pressure, we may have to lower the cost of our services or decrease the level of services provided to Clients, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In the event that any of such competitors initiates litigation against us, such litigation, even if without merit, could be time-consuming and costly to defend and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Similarly, any increase in competition due to new legislative or industry developments could adversely affect us. These developments include:
•increased capital-raising by insurance companies, which could result in new capital in the industry, which in turn may lead to lower insurance premiums and commissions;
•insurance companies selling insurance directly to the insured without the involvement of a broker or other intermediary;
•changes in our business compensation model as a result of regulatory developments;
•federal and state governments establishing programs to provide property insurance in catastrophe-prone areas or other alternative market types of coverage that compete with, or completely replace, insurance products offered by insurance companies;
•climate-change regulation in the U.S. and around the world moving us toward a low-carbon economy, which could create new competitive pressures around innovative insurance solutions; and
•increased competition from new market participants such as banks, accounting firms, consulting firms and Internet or other technology firms offering risk management, insurance brokerage services or new distribution channels for insurance, such as payroll firms.
New competition as a result of these or other competitive or industry developments could cause the demand for our products and services to decrease, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
E&O claims may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have significant insurance agency and brokerage operations, and are subject to claims and litigation in the ordinary course of business resulting from alleged and actual E&O in placing insurance and rendering coverage advice. These activities involve substantial amounts of money. Since E&O claims against us may allege our liability for all or part of the amounts in question, claimants may seek large damage awards. These claims can involve significant defense costs. E&O could include failure to, whether negligently or intentionally, place coverage on behalf of Clients, provide our Insurance Company Partners with complete and accurate information relating to the risks being insured or appropriately apply funds that we hold on a fiduciary basis. It is not always possible to prevent or detect E&O, and the precautions we take may not be effective in all cases.
We have E&O insurance coverage to protect against the risk of liability resulting from our alleged and actual E&O. Prices for this insurance and the scope and limits of the coverage terms available depend on our claims history as well as market conditions that are outside of our control. While we endeavor to purchase coverage that is appropriate to our assessment of our risk, we are unable to predict with certainty the frequency, nature or magnitude of claims for direct or consequential damages or whether our E&O insurance will cover such claims.
In establishing liabilities for E&O claims, we utilize case level reviews by outside counsel and an internal analysis to estimate potential losses. The liability is reviewed annually and adjusted as developments warrant. Given the unpredictability of E&O claims and of litigation that could flow from them, it is possible that an adverse outcome in a particular matter could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flow in a given quarterly or annual period.
Our inability to successfully recover should we experience a disaster or other business continuity problem could cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm or legal liability.
Should we experience a local or regional disaster or other business continuity problem, such as an earthquake, hurricane, terrorist attack, pandemic, protest or riot, security breach, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made disaster, our continued success will depend, in part, on the availability of personnel, office facilities, and the proper functioning of computer, telecommunication and other related systems and operations. We could potentially lose client data or experience material adverse interruptions to our operations or delivery of services to Clients in a disaster recovery scenario. We may experience additional disruption due to system upgrades, outages, an increase in remote work or other impacts as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
If we are unable to apply technology effectively in driving value for our Clients through technology-based solutions or gain internal efficiencies through the application of technology and related tools, our results of operations, client relationships, growth and compliance programs could be adversely affected.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and respond effectively to the threat of digital disruption and other technology change. We must also develop and implement technology solutions and technical expertise among our employees that anticipate and keep pace with rapid and continuing changes in technology, industry standards, client preferences and control standards. We may not be successful in anticipating or responding to these developments on a timely and cost-effective basis, and our ideas may not be accepted in the marketplace. Additionally, the effort to gain technological expertise and develop new technologies in our business may require us to incur significant expenses. If we cannot develop or implement new technologies as quickly as our competitors, or if our competitors develop more cost-effective technologies or product offerings, we could experience a material adverse effect on our results of operations, client relationships, growth and compliance programs.
Damage to our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our reputation is one of our key assets. We advise our Clients on and provide services related to a wide range of subjects and our ability to attract and retain Clients depends greatly on the external perceptions of our level of service, trustworthiness, business practices, financial condition and other subjective qualities. Our success is also dependent on maintaining a good reputation with existing and potential employees, investors, regulators and the communities in which we operate. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these or other matters, including our association with Clients or business partners who themselves have a damaged reputation, or from actual or alleged conduct by us or our employees, could damage our reputation. Our reputation could also be harmed by negative perceptions or publicity regarding ESG matters including concerns with environmental matters, climate change, workforce diversity, pay equity, harassment, racial justice, cyber security and data privacy, including as a result of actions taken by companies we acquire before the acquisition. Any resulting erosion of trust and confidence could make it difficult for us to attract and retain Clients, employees or investors, result in lower ESG ratings and exclusion of our stock from ESG-oriented indices or investment funds, or harm our relationships with regulators and the communities in which we operate. Any of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our inability to retain or hire qualified employees, as well as the loss of any of our executive officers, could negatively impact our ability to retain existing business and generate new business.
Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel. There is significant competition from within the insurance industry and from businesses outside the industry for exceptional employees, especially in key positions. If we are not able to successfully attract, retain and motivate our employees, our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation could be materially and adversely affected.
If any of our key professionals were to join an existing competitor or form a competing company, some of our Clients could choose to use the services of that competitor instead of our services. Certain of our key personnel are prohibited by contract from soliciting our employees and Clients and from competing in our industry in any state in which we conduct or actively plan to conduct business at the time of the employee’s termination for a period of up to five years following termination of employment with us. However, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in enforcing these contracts.
In addition, we could be adversely affected if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our senior leaders, including our founders and key executives, or if one or more of them contracts COVID-19. In particular, our future success depends substantially on the continued service of our co-founder and Chairman, Lowry Baldwin, and our Chief Executive Officer, Trevor Baldwin. Although we operate with a decentralized management system, the loss of our senior managers or other key personnel, including the legacy management of certain joint ventures or acquired subsidiaries, or our inability to continue to identify, recruit and retain such personnel, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, could result in declines in business and increases in claims that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are exposed to various risks arising out of natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, floods, landslides, tornadoes, typhoons, tsunamis, hailstorms, explosions, climate events or weather patterns and public health crises, illness, epidemics or pandemic health events, as well as man-made disasters, including acts of terrorism, military actions, cyber-terrorism, explosions and biological, chemical or radiological events. The continued threat of terrorism and ongoing military actions may cause significant volatility in global financial markets, and a natural or man-made disaster could trigger an economic downturn in the areas directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. These consequences could, among other things, result in a decline in business and increased claims from those areas. They could also result in reduced underwriting capacity of our Insurance Company Partners, making it more difficult for our agents to place business. Disasters also could disrupt public and private infrastructure, including communications and financial services, which could disrupt our ordinary business operations. Any increases in loss ratios due to natural or man-made disasters could impact our contingent commissions, which are primarily driven by both growth and profitability metrics.
A natural or man-made disaster also could disrupt the operations of our counterparties or result in increased prices for the products and services they provide to us. Finally, a natural or man-made disaster could increase the incidence or severity of E&O claims against us.
See Item 1A. “Risk Factors - Risks Relating to our Business - Because our business is highly concentrated in the Southeastern United States, adverse economic conditions, natural disaster, loss trends or regulatory changes in this region could adversely affect our financial condition.” See also Item 1A. “Risks Relating to our Business - The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could result in declines in business and increases in claims that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”
Non-compliance with or changes in laws, regulations or licensing requirements applicable to us could restrict our ability to conduct our business.
The industry in which we operate is subject to extensive regulation. We are subject to regulation and supervision both federally and in each applicable local jurisdiction. In general, these regulations are designed to protect Clients and the insured and to protect the integrity of the financial markets, rather than to protect stockholders or creditors. Our ability to conduct business in these jurisdictions depends on our compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by federal, state and other regulatory and self-regulatory authorities. Failure to comply with regulatory requirements, or changes in regulatory requirements or interpretations, could result in actions by regulators, potentially leading to fines and penalties, adverse publicity and damage to our reputation in the marketplace. There can be no assurance that we will be able to adapt effectively to any changes in law. In extreme cases, revocation of a subsidiary’s authority to do business in one or more jurisdictions could result from failure to comply with regulatory requirements. In addition, we could face lawsuits by Clients, the insured and other parties for alleged violations of certain of these laws and regulations. It is difficult to predict whether changes resulting from new laws and regulations will affect the industry or our business and, if so, to what degree.
Employees and principals who engage in the solicitation, negotiation or sale of insurance, or provide certain other insurance services, generally are required to be licensed individually. Insurance and laws and regulations govern whether licensees may share commissions with unlicensed entities and individuals. We believe that any payments we make to third parties are in compliance with applicable laws. However, should any regulatory agency take a contrary position and prevail, we will be required to change the manner in which we pay fees to such employees or principals or require entities receiving such payments to become registered or licensed.
State insurance laws grant supervisory agencies, including state departments of insurance, broad administrative authority. State insurance regulators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners continually review existing laws and regulations, some of which affect our business. These supervisory agencies regulate many aspects of the insurance business, including, the licensing of insurance brokers and agents and other insurance intermediaries, the handling of third-party funds held in a fiduciary capacity and trade practices, such as marketing, advertising and compensation arrangements entered into by insurance brokers and agents.
Federal, state and other regulatory and self-regulatory authorities have focused on, and continue to devote substantial attention to, the insurance industry as well as to the sale of products or services to seniors. Regulatory review or the issuance of interpretations of existing laws and regulations may result in the enactment of new laws and regulations that could adversely affect our operations or our ability to conduct business profitably. We are unable to predict whether any such laws or regulations will be enacted and to what extent such laws and regulations would affect our business.
The marketing and sale of Medicare plans are subject to numerous, complex and frequently changing laws and regulations, and non-compliance or changes in laws and regulations could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The marketing and sale of Medicare plans are subject to numerous laws, regulations and guidelines at the federal and state level. The marketing and sale of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans are principally regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”). The marketing and sale of Medicare Supplement plans are principally regulated on a state-by-state basis by state departments of insurance. The laws and regulations applicable to the marketing and sale of Medicare plans are numerous, ambiguous and complex, and, particularly with respect to regulations and guidance issued by CMS for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, change frequently. The telephone calls on which we enroll individuals into Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans are required to be recorded. Health insurance companies audit these recordings for compliance and listen to them in connection with their investigation of complaints. In addition, Medicare eligible individuals may receive a special election period and the ability to change Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans outside the Medicare annual enrollment period in the event that the sale of the plan was not in accordance with CMS rules and guidelines. Given CMS’s scrutiny of Medicare product health insurance companies and the responsibility of the health insurance companies for actions that we take, health insurance companies may terminate our relationship with them or take other corrective action if our Medicare product sales, marketing and operations are not in compliance or give rise to too many complaints. The termination of our relationship with health insurance companies for this reason would reduce the products we are able to offer, could result in the loss of commissions for past and future sales and would otherwise harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
As a result of the laws, regulations and guidelines relating to the sale of Medicare plans, we have altered, and likely will have to continue to alter, our websites and sales process to comply with several requirements that are not applicable to our sale of non-Medicare-related health insurance plans. For instance, many aspects of our online platforms and our marketing material and processes, as well as changes to these platforms, materials and processes, including call center scripts, must be filed on a regular basis with CMS and reviewed and approved by health insurance companies in light of CMS requirements. In addition, certain aspects of our Medicare plan marketing partner relationships have been in the past, and will be in the future, subjected to CMS and health insurance company review. Changes to the laws, regulations and guidelines relating to Medicare plans, their interpretation or the manner in which they are enforced could be incompatible with these relationships, our platforms or our sale of Medicare plans, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Due to changes in CMS guidance or enforcement or interpretation of existing guidance applicable to our marketing and sale of Medicare products, or as a result of new laws, regulations and guidelines, CMS, state departments of insurance or health insurance companies may determine to object to or not to approve aspects of our online platforms or marketing material and processes and may determine that certain existing aspects of our Medicare-related business are not in compliance. As a result, the progress of our Medicare operations could be slowed or we could be prevented from operating aspects of our Medicare commissions and fees generating activities altogether, which would harm our business, results of operations and financial condition, particularly if it occurred during the Medicare annual enrollment period.
If our ability to enroll individuals during enrollment periods is impeded, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
It is difficult for the health insurance Risk Advisors we employ and our systems and processes to handle the increased volume of health insurance transactions that occur in a short period of time during the healthcare reform annual open enrollment period and the Medicare annual enrollment period. We hire additional employees on a temporary or seasonal basis in a limited period of time to address the expected increase in the volume of health insurance transactions during the Medicare annual enrollment period. We must ensure that our health insurance Risk Advisors and those of outsourced call centers are timely licensed, trained and certified and have the appropriate authority to sell health insurance in a number of states and for a number of different health insurance companies. We depend on our own employees, state departments of insurance, government exchanges and health insurance companies for licensing, certification and appointment. If our ability to market and sell Medicare-related health insurance and individual and family health insurance is constrained during an enrollment period for any reason, such as technology failures, reduced allocation of resources, any inability to timely employ, license, train, certify and retain our employees and our contractors and their health insurance Risk Advisors to sell health insurance, interruptions in the operation of our website or systems or issues with government-run health insurance exchanges, we could acquire fewer members, suffer a reduction in our membership and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
We may not be able to successfully identify and acquire Partners or integrate Partners into our company, and we may become subject to certain liabilities assumed or incurred in connection with our Partnerships that could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Strategic acquisitions to complement and further expand our business, which we refer to as Partnerships, have been and will likely remain an important part of our competitive strategy. If we are unable to identify and complete acquisitions, or if we are inefficient or unsuccessful at integrating any Partner into our operations, we may not be able to achieve our planned rates of growth or improve our market share, profitability or competitive position in specific markets or services. The process of integrating a Partner has created, and will continue to create, operating difficulties. The risks we face include:
•diversion of management time and focus from operating our core business to acquisition integration challenges;
•excessive costs of deploying our business support and financial management tools in acquired companies;
•failure to successfully integrate the Partner into our operations, including cultural challenges associated with integrating and retaining employees;
•failure to achieve anticipated efficiencies or benefits, including through the loss of key Clients or personnel of the Partner;
•failure to realize our strategic objectives for the Partner or further develop the Partner; and
•the consequences of the conduct of our acquired companies prior to their acquisition by us, including the occurrence of data breaches or cybersecurity attacks during the integration of information systems, as well as increased costs associated with implementing compliance procedures, including data privacy and cybersecurity protections.
Although we conduct due diligence in connection with each of our Partnerships, there may be liabilities that we fail to discover, that we inadequately assess or that are not properly disclosed to us. In particular, to the extent that any Partner (i) failed to comply with or otherwise violated applicable laws or regulations, (ii) failed to fulfill contractual obligations to Clients or (iii) incurred material liabilities or obligations to Clients that are not identified during the diligence process, we, as the successor owner, may be financially responsible for these violations, failures and liabilities and may suffer financial or reputational harm or otherwise be adversely affected. In addition, as part of a Partnership, we may assume responsibilities and obligations of the Partner pursuant to the terms and conditions of agreements entered by the acquired entity that are not consistent with the terms and conditions that we typically accept and require. We also may be subject to litigation or other claims in connection with a Partner, including claims from employees, Clients, stockholders or other third parties. Any material liabilities we incur that are associated with our Partnerships could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our Partnership strategy is also affected by our ability to secure additional debt or equity financing in the future to fund acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain such additional financing or, if available, it may not be in amounts and on terms acceptable to us. We cannot predict or guarantee that we will successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, consummate any Partnership or integrate any Partner. Any failure to do so could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
See Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Partnerships” for further discussion of our strategic acquisitions.
An impairment of goodwill could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
When we acquire Partners we record goodwill and other intangible assets. As of December 31, 2020, goodwill represented 43% of our total assets. Goodwill is not amortized and is subject to assessment for impairment at least annually. The identification and measurement of goodwill impairment involves the estimation of the fair value of our reporting units. We compare the fair value of each reporting unit with its carrying amount to determine if there is potential impairment of goodwill. Management reviews the carrying value attributed to each reporting unit at least annually to determine if the facts and circumstances suggest that there is impairment.
We may in the future be required to take additional goodwill or other asset impairment charges. Any such non-cash charges could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
In connection with the implementation of our corporate strategies, we face risks associated with the entry into new lines of business and the growth and development of these businesses.
From time to time, either through acquisitions or internal development, we may enter new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. These new lines of business or new products and services may present additional risks, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. Such risks include the investment of significant time and resources; the possibility that these efforts will not be successful; the possibility that the marketplace does not accept our products or services, or that we are unable to retain Clients that adopt our new products or services; and the risk of additional liabilities associated with these efforts. Other risks include developing knowledge of and experience in the new lines of business, integrating the Partner into our systems and culture, recruiting professionals and developing and capitalizing on new relationships with experienced market participants. External factors, such as compliance with new or revised regulations, competitive alternatives and shifting market preferences may also impact the successful implementation of a new line of business. Failure to manage these risks in the acquisition or development of new businesses could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if we dispose of or otherwise exit certain businesses, there can be no assurance that we will not incur certain disposition-related charges, or that we will be able to reduce overhead related to the divested assets.
We have debt outstanding that could adversely affect our financial flexibility and subjects us to restrictions and limitations that could significantly impact our ability to operate our business.
As of December 31, 2020, we had total consolidated debt outstanding of approximately $385.4 million, collateralized by substantially all the Company’s assets, including a pledge of all equity securities of each of the Company’s subsidiaries. In the year ending December 31, 2020, we had debt servicing costs of $15.8 million, inclusive of $1.0 million in principal repayments and $7.9 million of interest. In the year ending December 31, 2019, we had debt servicing costs of $170.3 million, inclusive of $154.6 million in principal repayments, related to the payoff of all our outstanding indebtedness under the Villages Credit Agreement and the partial paydown of the Old JPMorgan Credit Agreement, and $10.6 million of interest.
The level of debt we have outstanding during any period could adversely affect our financial flexibility. We also bear risk at the time debt matures. Our ability to make interest and principal payments, to refinance our debt obligations and to fund our planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash from operations. Our ability to generate cash from operations is, to a certain extent, subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control, such as an environment of rising interest rates. The need to service our indebtedness will also reduce our ability to use cash for other purposes, including working capital, dividends to stockholders, acquisitions, capital expenditures, share repurchases and general corporate purposes. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as selling assets, seeking additional equity or reducing or delaying capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions and investments, any of which could impede the implementation of our business strategy or prevent us from entering into transactions that would otherwise benefit our business. Additionally, we may not be able to effect such actions, if necessary, on favorable terms, or at all. We may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on favorable terms, or at all.
The New JPM Credit Agreement contains covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability to make certain restricted payments, incur additional debt, engage in certain asset sales, mergers, acquisitions or similar transactions, create liens on assets, engage in certain transactions with affiliates, change our business or make certain investments and require us to comply with certain financial covenants. The restrictions in the New JPM Credit Agreement governing our debt may prevent us from taking actions that we believe would be in the best interest of our business and our stockholders and may make it difficult for us to execute our business strategy successfully or effectively compete with companies that are not similarly restricted. We may also incur future debt obligations that might subject us to additional or more restrictive covenants that could affect our financial and operational flexibility, including our ability to pay dividends. We cannot make any assurances that we will be able to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing on terms acceptable to us, or at all. A failure to comply with the restrictions under the New JPM Credit Agreement could result in a default under the financing obligations or could require us to obtain waivers from our lenders for failure to comply with these restrictions. The occurrence of a default that remains uncured or the inability to secure a necessary consent or waiver could cause our obligations with respect to our debt to be accelerated and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The New JPM Credit Agreement provides for an interest rate based on, depending on the type of loan, the Eurodollar rate or the Alternate Base Rate (as defined in the New JPM Credit Agreement), plus, in each case, a margin based on Total Leverage Ratio (as defined in the New JPM Credit Agreement).
We may incur significant additional indebtedness, which may affect our ability to satisfy our obligations under the Notes.
Under the terms of the New JPM Credit Agreement, we may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness, in the future. This could require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, reduce the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital and capital expenditures and execute on our Partnership strategy, expose us to the risk of increased interest rates and increase our vulnerability to adverse economic or industry conditions. If new indebtedness is added to our current indebtedness levels, the related risks that we face would be increased, and we may not be able to meet all of our debt obligations.
Because our business is highly concentrated in the Southeastern United States, adverse economic conditions, natural disasters, loss trends or regulatory changes in this region could adversely affect our financial condition.
A significant portion of our business is concentrated in the Southeastern U.S. The insurance business is primarily a state-regulated industry, and therefore state legislatures may enact laws that adversely affect the insurance industry. Because our business is concentrated in the Southeastern U.S., we face greater exposure to unfavorable changes in regulatory conditions in that region than insurance intermediaries whose operations are more diversified through a greater number of states. In addition, the occurrence of adverse economic conditions, natural or other disasters, loss trends or other circumstances specific to or otherwise significantly impacting these states could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, Florida homeowners recently have been assigning the benefit of their insurance recovery to third parties. This practice, referred to as an “assignment of benefits” or “AOB,” and related abuses have substantially increased, and may continue to increase, our Insurance Company Partners’ exposure to inflated claims, attorney’s fees and costs. Increases in loss ratios and related costs experienced by our Insurance Company Partners will result in a decreased profit to them and may result in decreases in payments of contingent or profit-sharing commissions to us. This trend may also cause one or more of our Insurance Company Partners to reduce or cease writing insurance we offer our Clients, which in turn could reduce our ability to place certain lines of insurance and, as a result, reduce our commissions and fees and profitability.
In addition, we are susceptible to losses and interruptions caused by hurricanes (particularly in Florida, where our headquarters and several offices are located), earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water shortages, floods, fire, extreme weather conditions, geopolitical events, such as terrorist acts, and other natural or man-made disasters. Hurricanes in particular may have an outsized impact on the insurance industry. Our insurance coverage with respect to natural disasters is limited and is subject to deductibles and coverage limits. Such coverage may not be adequate, or may not continue to be available at commercially reasonable rates and terms. We expect to grow our footprint throughout the country.
We derive a significant portion of our commissions and fees from a limited number of our Insurance Company Partners, the loss of which would result in additional expense and loss of market share.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, one Insurance Company Partner accounted for an aggregate of approximately 13% of our total core commissions. Should this Insurance Company Partner seek to terminate its arrangements with us, we could be forced to move our business to another Insurance Company Partner and additional expense and loss of market share could possibly result.
Our business may be harmed if we lose our relationships with Insurance Company Partners, fail to maintain good relationships with Insurance Company Partners, become dependent upon a limited number of Insurance Company Partners or fail to develop new Insurance Company Partner relationships.
Our business typically enters into contractual agency relationships with Insurance Company Partners that are sometimes unique to Baldwin Risk Partners, but nonexclusive and terminable on short notice by either party for any reason. In many cases, Insurance Company Partners also have the ability to amend the terms of our agreements unilaterally, including commission rates on short notice. Our Insurance Company Partners may be unwilling to allow us to sell their existing or new insurance products or may amend our agreements with them, for a variety of reasons, including for competitive or regulatory reasons or because of a reluctance to distribute their products through our platform. Our Insurance Company Partners may decide to rely on their own internal distribution channels, choose to exclude us from their most profitable or popular products, or decide not to distribute insurance products in individual markets in certain geographies or altogether. The termination or amendment of our relationship with an Insurance Company Partner could reduce the variety of insurance products we offer. We also could lose a source of, or be paid reduced commissions for, future sales and could lose renewal commissions for past sales. Our business could also be harmed if we fail to develop new Insurance Company Partner relationships.
In the future, it may become necessary for us to offer insurance products from a reduced number of Insurance Company Partners or to derive a greater portion of our commissions and fees from a more concentrated number of Insurance Company Partners as our business and the insurance industry evolve. Should our dependence on a smaller number of Insurance Company Partners increase, whether as a result of the termination of Insurance Company Partner relationships, Insurance Company Partner consolidation or otherwise, we may become more vulnerable to adverse changes in our relationships with our Insurance Company Partners, particularly in states where we offer insurance products from a relatively small number of Insurance Company Partners or where a small number of insurance companies dominate the market. The termination, amendment or consolidation of our relationship with our Insurance Company Partners could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on third parties to perform key functions of our business operations, enabling our provision of services to our Clients. These third parties may act in ways that could harm our business.
We rely on third parties, and in some cases subcontractors, to provide services, data, and information, such as technology, information security, funds transfers, data processing and administration and support functions, that are critical to our business operations. These third parties include correspondents, agents and other brokerage and intermediaries, insurance markets, data providers, plan trustees, payroll service providers, benefits administrators, software and system vendors, health plan providers, investment managers and providers of human resources, among others. As we do not fully control the actions of these third parties, we are subject to the risk that their decisions, actions or inactions may adversely impact us and replacing these service providers could create significant delays and expenses. A failure by third parties to comply with service level agreements or regulatory or legal requirements in a high-quality and timely manner, particularly during periods of our peak demand for their services, could result in economic and reputational harm to us. In addition, we face risks as we transition from in-house functions to third-party support functions and providers that there may be disruptions in service or other unintended results that may adversely affect our business operations. These third parties face their own technology, operating, business, and economic risks, and any significant failures by them, including the improper use or disclosure of our confidential Client, employee, or company information, could cause harm to our reputation. An interruption in or the cessation of service by any service provider as a result of systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, capacity constraints, financial difficulties, or for any other reason could disrupt our operations, impact our ability to offer certain products and services, and result in contractual or regulatory penalties, liability claims from Clients, or employees, damage to our reputation, and harm to our business.
If we fail to manage future growth effectively, our business could be materially adversely affected.
We have experienced rapid growth. This growth has placed significant demands on management and our operational infrastructure. As we continue to grow, we must effectively integrate, develop and motivate a large number of new employees, while maintaining the beneficial aspects of our company culture. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our services and efficiency of our operations could suffer and we may not be able to execute on our business plan, which could harm our brand, results of operations and overall business.
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture, or if we experience a change in management, management philosophy or business strategy, our business may be harmed.
We believe that a significant contributor to our success has been our entrepreneurial and sales-oriented culture, as outlined in the Azimuth, our corporate constitution. As we grow, including from the integration of employees and businesses acquired in connection with previous or future acquisitions, we may find it difficult to maintain important aspects of our corporate culture, which could negatively affect our profitability or our ability to retain and recruit people of the highest integrity and quality who are essential to our future success. We may face pressure to change our culture as we grow, particularly if we experience difficulties in attracting competent personnel who are willing to embrace our culture. In addition, as our organization grows and we are required to implement more complex organizational structures, or if we experience a change in management, management philosophy or business strategy, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the beneficial aspects of our corporate culture, such as our Partnership operating model, which could negatively impact our future success.
Our results may be adversely affected by changes in the mode of compensation in the insurance industry.
In the past, state regulators have scrutinized the manner in which insurance brokers are compensated. For example, the Attorney General of the State of New York brought charges against members of the insurance brokerage community. These actions have created uncertainty concerning longstanding methods of compensating insurance brokers. Given that the insurance brokerage industry has faced scrutiny from regulators in the past over its compensation practices, and the transparency and discourse to Clients regarding brokers’ compensation, it is possible that regulators may choose to revisit the same or other practices in the future. If they do so, compliance with new regulations along with any sanctions that might be imposed for past practices deemed improper could have an adverse impact on our future results of operations and inflict significant reputational harm on our business.
Efforts to reduce healthcare costs and alter healthcare financing practices could adversely affect our business.
The U.S. healthcare industry is subject to increased governmental regulation at both the federal and state levels. Certain proposals have been made at the federal and state government levels in an effort to control healthcare costs, including proposing to lower reimbursement under the Medicare program. These proposals include “single payor” government funded healthcare and price controls on prescription drugs. If these or similar efforts are successful, our business and operations could be materially adversely affected. In addition, changing political, economic and regulatory influences may affect healthcare financing and reimbursement practices. If the current healthcare financing and reimbursement system changes significantly, our business could be materially adversely affected. Congress periodically considers proposals to reform the U.S. healthcare system such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act in 2010. Our Insurance Company Partners may react to these proposals and the uncertainty surrounding them by reducing or delaying purchases of services that we provide. We cannot predict what effect, if any, these proposals may have on our business. Other legislative or market-driven changes in the healthcare system that we cannot anticipate could also materially adversely affect our consolidated results of operations, consolidated financial position or consolidated cash flow from operations.
Certain of our results of operations and financial metrics may be difficult to predict as a result of seasonality.
The insurance brokerage market is seasonal and our results of operations are somewhat affected by seasonal trends. Our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margins are typically highest in the first quarter and lowest in the fourth quarter. This variation is primarily due to fluctuations in our revenue, while overhead remains consistent throughout the year. Our revenues are generally highest in the first quarter due to the impact of contingent payments received in the first quarter from Insurance Company Partners that we cannot readily estimate before receipt without the risk of significant reversal and a higher degree of first quarter policy commencements and renewals in Medicare and certain Middle Market lines of business such as employee benefits and commercial. In addition, a higher proportion of our first quarter revenue is derived from our highest margin businesses.
Partnerships can significantly impact Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margins in a given year and may increase the amount of seasonality within the business, especially results attributable to Partnerships that have not been fully integrated into our business or owned by us for a full year.
Risks Relating to Intellectual Property and Cybersecurity
Our business depends on a strong brand, and any failure to maintain, protect and enhance our brand would hurt our ability to grow our business, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition.
We have developed a strong brand that we believe has contributed significantly to the success of our business. Maintaining, protecting and enhancing the “Baldwin Risk Partners,” “Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners” and “Insight Beyond Insurance” brands is critical to growing our business, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition. If we do not successfully build and maintain a strong brand, our business could be materially harmed. Maintaining and enhancing the quality of our brand may require us to make substantial investments in areas such as marketing, community relations, outreach and employee training. We actively engage in advertisements, targeted promotional mailings and email communications, and engage on a regular basis in public relations and sponsorship activities. These investments may be substantial and may fail to encompass the optimal range of traditional, online and social advertising media to achieve maximum exposure and benefit to our brand.
We believe that our “Baldwin Risk Partners,” “Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners” and “Insight Beyond Insurance” trademarks have significant value and that these and other intellectual property are valuable assets that are critical to our success. Unauthorized uses or other infringement of our trademarks or service marks could diminish the value of our brand and may adversely affect our business. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every market. Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could damage our brand and impair our ability to compete effectively. Even where we have effectively secured statutory protection for our trademarks and other intellectual property, our competitors and other third parties may misappropriate our intellectual property, and in the course of litigation, such competitors and other third parties occasionally attempt to challenge the breadth of our ability to prevent others from using similar marks or designs. If such challenges were to be successful, less ability to prevent others from using similar marks or designs may ultimately result in a reduced distinctiveness of our brand in the minds of consumers. Defending or enforcing our trademark rights, branding practices and other intellectual property could result in the expenditure of significant resources and divert the attention of management, which in turn may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations, even if such defense or enforcement is ultimately successful. Even though competitors occasionally may attempt to challenge our ability to prevent infringers from using our marks, we are not aware of any challenges to our right to use any of our brand names or trademarks.
Failure to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or allegations that we have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others, could harm our reputation, ability to compete effectively, business, financial condition and results of operations.
To protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of trademark laws, copyright laws, trade secret protection, confidentiality agreements and other contractual arrangements with our affiliates, Colleagues, Clients, Partners and others. However, the protective steps that we take may be inadequate to deter misappropriation of our proprietary information or infringement of our intellectual property. In addition, we may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights. Failure to protect our intellectual property adequately could harm our reputation and affect our ability to compete effectively. In addition, even if we initiate litigation against third parties, such as infringement suits, we may not prevail.
Meanwhile, third parties may assert intellectual property rights claims against us, which may be costly to defend, could require the payment of damages and could limit our ability to use or offer certain technologies, products or other intellectual property. Any intellectual property claims, with or without merit, could be expensive, take significant time and divert management’s attention from other business concerns. Successful challenges against us could require us to modify or discontinue our use of technology or business processes where such use is found to infringe or violate the rights of others, or require us to purchase licenses from third parties, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Improper disclosure of confidential, personal or proprietary data, whether due to human error, misuse of information by employees or vendors, or as a result of cyberattacks, could result in regulatory scrutiny, legal liability, reputational harm, lost revenue, and remediation costs, and could have an adverse effect on our business or operations.
We maintain confidential, personal and proprietary information relating to our company, our employees and our Clients. This information includes personally identifiable information, protected health information, such as information regarding the medical history of Clients, and financial information. We are subject to laws and regulations relating to the collection, use, retention, security and transfer of this information. These laws apply to transfers of information among our affiliates, as well as to transactions we enter into with third-party vendors.
Cybersecurity breaches, such as computer viruses, unauthorized parties gaining access to our information technology systems, malware infections, phishing campaigns, vulnerability exploit attempts and similar incidents could disrupt the security of our internal systems and business applications, impair our ability to provide services to our Clients and protect the privacy of their data, compromise confidential business information, result in intellectual property or other confidential or proprietary information being lost or stolen, including Client, employee or company data, which could harm our competitive position or otherwise adversely affect our business. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, which makes it more difficult to detect cybersecurity incidents, assess their severity or impact in a timely manner, and successfully defend against them. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic generally is increasing the attack surface available to criminals, as more companies and individuals work remotely and otherwise work online. Consequently, the risk of a cybersecurity incident has increased. We cannot provide assurances that our preventative efforts, or those of our vendors or service providers, will be successful.
We maintain policies, procedures and technical safeguards designed to protect the security and privacy of confidential, personal and proprietary information. Nonetheless, we cannot eliminate the risk of, and have in the past experienced, improper access to or disclosure of personally identifiable information and related costs to mitigate the consequences from such events. It is possible that the steps we follow, including our security controls over personal data and training of employees on data security, may not prevent improper access to, disclosure of or misuse of confidential, personal or proprietary information. This could cause harm to our reputation, create legal exposure or subject us to liability under laws that protect personal data, resulting in increased costs or loss of commissions and fees. In addition, improper access to or disclosure of personal and proprietary information could occur in a target we acquire prior to the acquisition or as a result of actions taken prior to the acquisition or during the integration period. Even if we receive indemnification for such events (which may not be the cure), such events could cause harm to our reputation, create legal exposure or subject us to liability under laws that protect personal data.
Data privacy is subject to frequently changing laws, rules and regulations in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. For example, legislators in the U.S. are proposing new and more robust cybersecurity legislation in light of the recent broad-based cyberattacks at a number of companies. These and similar initiatives around the country could increase the cost of developing, implementing or securing our servers and require us to allocate more resources to improved technologies, adding to our information technology and compliance costs. Our failure to adhere to, or successfully implement processes in response to, changing legal or regulatory requirements in this area could result in legal liability or damage to our reputation in the marketplace.
Cybersecurity risks have significantly increased in recent years, in part, because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunications technologies to exchange information and conduct transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of computer hackers, organized crime, terrorists, and other external parties, including foreign state actors. In the future, we may be subject to cyberattacks. These cyberattacks could include computer viruses, malicious or destructive code, phishing attacks, denial of service or information, improper access by employees or third-party partners or other security breaches that have or could in the future result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of our confidential, proprietary and other information, confidential and other information concerning employees or consumers, or otherwise materially disrupt our network access or business operations.
Our business depends on information processing systems. Security or data breaches of our information processing systems may hurt our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to provide insurance services to Clients and to create and maintain comprehensive tracking and reporting of Client accounts depends on our capacity to store, retrieve and process data, manage significant databases and expand and periodically upgrade our information processing capabilities. As our operations evolve, we will need to continue to make investments in new and enhanced information systems. As our information system providers revise and upgrade their hardware, software and equipment technology, we may encounter difficulties integrating these new technologies into our business. Interruption or loss of our information processing capabilities or adverse consequences from implementing new or enhanced systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the course of providing financial services, we may electronically store or transmit personally identifiable information, such as social security numbers or credit card or bank information, of Clients or employees of Clients. Breaches in data security or infiltration of our network security by unauthorized persons could cause interruptions in operations and damage to our reputation. While we maintain policies, procedures and technological safeguards designed to protect the security and privacy of this information, we cannot entirely eliminate the risk of, and have in the past experienced, improper access to or disclosure of personally identifiable information and related costs to mitigate the consequences from such events. Privacy laws and regulations are matters of growing public concern and are continuously changing in the states in which we operate. The failure to adhere to or successfully implement procedures to respond to these regulations could result in legal liability or impairment to our reputation.
Further, despite security measures taken, our systems may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, unauthorized access, viruses or other disruptive problems. As we continue to expand our business through Partnerships, we may be exposed to increased vulnerability to data breaches or cybersecurity attacks during the integration of information systems. If our systems or facilities were infiltrated or damaged, our Clients could experience data loss, financial loss and significant business interruption leading to a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify protective measures, to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures or to make required notifications.
We rely on the availability and performance of information technology services provided by third parties.
While we maintain some of our critical information technology systems, we also depend on third-party service providers to provide important information technology services relating to, among other things, agency management services, sales and service support, electronic communications and certain finance functions. If the service providers to which we outsource these functions do not perform effectively, we may not be able to achieve the expected cost savings and may have to incur additional costs to correct errors made by such service providers. Depending on the function involved, such errors may also lead to business disruption, processing inefficiencies, the loss of or damage to intellectual property through a security breach, the loss of sensitive data through a security breach, or otherwise. While we or any third-party service provider has not experienced any significant disruption, failure or breach impacting our information technology systems, any such disruption, failure or breach could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to our Organizational Structure
We are a holding company with our principal asset being our 47% ownership interest in BRP; accordingly, we are dependent upon distributions from BRP to pay dividends, if any, and taxes, make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and pay other expenses.
We are a holding company and our principal asset is our direct or indirect ownership of 47% of the outstanding LLC Units. We have no independent means of generating commissions and fees. As the sole managing member of BRP, we intend to cause BRP to make distributions to the holders of LLC Units and us, in amounts sufficient to (i) cover all applicable taxes payable by us and the holders of LLC Units, (ii) allow us to make any payments required under the Tax Receivable Agreement we entered into as part of the Reorganization Transactions and (iii) fund dividends to our stockholders in accordance with our dividend policy, to the extent that our board of directors declares such dividends.
Deterioration in the financial conditions, earnings or cash flow of BRP and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair their ability to pay such distributions. Additionally, to the extent that we need funds and BRP is restricted from making such distributions to us under applicable law or regulation, as a result of covenants in its debt agreements or otherwise, we may not be able to obtain such funds on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and, as a result, could suffer a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition.
In certain circumstances, BRP will be required to make distributions to us and the other holders of LLC Units, and the distributions that BRP will be required to make may be substantial.
Under the Amended LLC Agreement, BRP will generally be required from time to time to make pro rata distributions in cash to us and the other holders of LLC Units at certain assumed tax rates in amounts that are intended to be sufficient to cover the taxes on our and the other LLC Unit holders’ respective allocable shares of the taxable income of BRP. As a result of (i) potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and the other LLC Unit holders, (ii) the lower tax rate applicable to corporations than individuals and (iii) the favorable tax benefits that we anticipate receiving from (a) acquisitions of interests in BRP in connection with acquisitions by BRP Group of LLC Units from Lowry Baldwin, our Chairman, and Villages Invesco in connection with the Initial Public Offering and future taxable redemptions or exchanges of LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash and (b) payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we expect that these tax distributions will be in amounts that exceed our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Our board of directors will determine the appropriate uses for any excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, dividends, repurchases of our Class A common stock, the payment of obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement and the payment of other expenses. We will have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash other than any declared dividend) to our stockholders. No adjustments to the redemption or exchange ratio of LLC Units for shares of Class A common stock will be made as a result of either (i) any cash distribution by us or (ii) any cash that we retain and do not distribute to our stockholders. To the extent that we do not distribute such excess cash as dividends on our Class A common stock and instead, for example, hold such cash balances or lend them to BRP, holders of LLC Units would benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class A common stock following a redemption or exchange of their LLC Units.
We are controlled by BRP’s LLC Members whose interests in our business may be different than yours, and certain statutory provisions afforded to stockholders are not applicable to us.
BRP’s LLC Members control approximately 53% of the combined voting power of our common stock at December 31, 2020. Further, pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement we and the Pre-IPO LLC Members, who collectively control 39% of the consolidated voting power of our common stock as of December 31, 2020, entered into, Pre-IPO LLC Members may approve or disapprove substantially all transactions and other matters requiring approval by our stockholders, such as a merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, any dissolution, liquidation or reorganization of us or our subsidiaries or any acquisition or disposition of any asset in excess of 5% of total assets, the incurrence, guarantee, assumption or refinancing of indebtedness, or grant of a security interest, in excess of 10% of total assets (or that would cause aggregate indebtedness or guarantees thereof to exceed 10% of total assets), the issuance or redemption of certain additional equity interests in an amount exceeding $10 million, the establishment or amendment of any equity, purchase or bonus plan for the benefit of employees, consultants, officers or directors, any capital or other expenditure in excess of 5% of total assets, the declaration or payment of dividends on capital stock or distributions by BRP on LLC Units other than tax distributions as defined in the Amended LLC Agreement. Other matters requiring approval by BRP’s LLC Members pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement include changing the number of directors on our board of directors, changing the jurisdiction of incorporation, changing the location of BRP’s headquarters, changing the name of BRP, amendments to governing documents, adopting a shareholder rights plan and any changes to BRP’s fiscal year or public accountants. In addition, the Stockholders Agreement will provide that approval by BRP’s LLC Members is required for any changes to the strategic direction or scope of BRP Group and BRP’s business, any acquisition or disposition of any asset or business having consideration or fair value in excess of 5% of our total assets and the hiring and termination of our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Partnership Officer or other change to senior management or key employees (including terms of compensation). Furthermore, the Stockholders Agreement will provide that, for so long as the Pre-IPO LLC Members beneficially hold at least 10% of the aggregate number of outstanding shares of our common stock (the “Substantial Ownership Requirement”), Pre-IPO LLC Members may designate a majority of the nominees for election to our board of directors, including the nominee for election to serve as Chairman of our board of directors. A group comprised of Baldwin Insurance Group Holdings, LLC, an entity controlled by Lowry Baldwin, our Chairman, Lowry Baldwin, Elizabeth Krystyn, Laura Sherman, Trevor Baldwin, our Chief Executive Officer, Kris Wiebeck, our Chief Financial Officer, John Valentine, our Chief Partnership Officer, Dan Galbraith, our Chief Operating Officer, Brad Hale, our Chief Accounting Officer, Chris Stephens, our General Counsel, Joseph Finney, James Roche, Millennial Specialty Holdco, LLC, Highland Risk Services LLC and certain trusts established by such individuals have entered into a voting agreement, or the Voting Agreement, with Lowry Baldwin, our Chairman, pursuant to which, in connection with any meeting of our shareholders or any written consent of our shareholders, each such person and trust party thereto will agree to vote or exercise their right to consent in the manner directed by Lowry Baldwin. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Lowry Baldwin through the Voting Agreement beneficially owns 33% of the voting power of our common stock.
This concentration of ownership and voting power may also delay, defer or even prevent an acquisition by a third party or other change of control of our company, which could deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of Class A common stock and may make some transactions more difficult or impossible without the support of the Pre-IPO LLC Members, even if such events are in the best interests of minority stockholders. Furthermore, this concentration of voting power with Pre-IPO LLC Members may have a negative impact on the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, Pre-IPO LLC Members will have the ability to designate a majority of the nominees for election to our board of directors, including the nominee for election to serve as Chairman of our board of directors until the Substantial Ownership Requirement is no longer met. As a result, Pre-IPO LLC Members may not be inclined to permit us to issue additional shares of Class A common stock, including for the facilitation of acquisitions, if it would dilute their holdings below the 10% threshold.
We cannot predict whether our dual-class structure, combined with the concentrated control of Pre-IPO LLC Members, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indexes. In July 2017, FTSE Russell announced that it plans to require new constituents of its indexes to have greater than 5% of the company’s voting rights in the hands of public stockholders, and S&P Dow Jones announced that it will no longer admit companies with multiple-class share structures to certain of its indexes. Because of our dual-class structure, we will likely be excluded from these indexes and we cannot assure you that other stock indexes will not take similar actions. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indexes, exclusion from stock indexes would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
Pre-IPO LLC Members’ interests may not be fully aligned with yours, which could lead to actions that are not in your best interests. Because the Pre-IPO LLC Members hold a majority of their economic interests in our business through BRP rather than through BRP Group, they may have conflicting interests with holders of shares of our Class A common stock. For example, the Pre-IPO LLC Members may have a different tax position from us, which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when we should dispose of assets or incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, especially in light of the existence of the Tax Receivable Agreement and whether and when we should undergo certain changes of control for purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreement or terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement. In addition, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration these tax or other considerations even where no similar benefit would accrue to us. Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, if the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) makes audit adjustments to BRP’s federal income tax returns, it may assess and collect any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from BRP. If, as a result of any such audit adjustment, BRP is required to make payments of taxes, penalties and interest, BRP’s cash available for distributions to us may be substantially reduced. These rules are not applicable to BRP for tax years beginning on or prior to December 31, 2017. In addition, the Pre-IPO LLC Members’ significant ownership in us and resulting ability to effectively control us may discourage someone from making a significant equity investment in us, or could discourage transactions involving a change in control, including transactions in which you as a holder of shares of our Class A common stock might otherwise receive a premium for your shares over the then-current market price.
Our certificate of incorporation and Stockholders Agreement provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” under Delaware law will only apply against our directors and officers and their respective affiliates for competing activities related to insurance brokerage activities. This doctrine will not apply to any business activity other than insurance brokerage activities. Furthermore, the Pre-IPO LLC Members have business relationships outside of our business.
We will be required to pay BRP’s LLC Members and any other persons that become parties to the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits we may receive, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.
Acquisitions by BRP Group of LLC Units from Lowry Baldwin, our Chairman, and Villages Invesco in connection with the Initial Public Offering and future taxable redemptions or exchanges by BRP’s LLC Members of LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash, as well as other transactions described herein, are expected to result in tax basis adjustments to the assets of BRP that will be allocated to us and thus produce favorable tax attributes. These tax attributes would not be available to us in the absence of those transactions. The anticipated tax basis adjustments are expected to reduce the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future.
We entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with BRP’s LLC Members that will provide for the payment by us to BRP’s LLC Members of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize as a result of (i) any increase in tax basis in BRP Group’s assets resulting from (a) acquisitions by BRP Group of LLC Units from BRP’s LLC Members in connection with the Initial Public Offering, (b) the purchase of LLC Units from any of BRP’s LLC Members using the net proceeds from any future offering, (c) redemptions or exchanges by BRP’s LLC Members of LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash or (d) payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest resulting from payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are our obligations and not obligations of BRP.
The actual increases in tax basis with respect to future taxable redemptions, exchanges or purchases of LLC Units, as well as the amount and timing of any payments we are required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement in respect of the acquisition of LLC Units from BRP’s LLC Members in connection with the Initial Public Offering or future taxable redemptions, exchanges or purchases of LLC Units, may differ materially from the amounts set forth above because the potential future reductions in our tax payments, as determined for purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreement, and the payments we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will each depend on a number of factors, including the market value of our Class A common stock at the time of redemption or exchange, the prevailing federal tax rates applicable to us over the life of the Tax Receivable Agreement (as well as the assumed combined state and local tax rate), the amount and timing of the taxable income that we generate in the future and the extent to which future redemptions, exchanges or purchases of LLC Units are taxable transactions.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned on BRP’s LLC Members’ continued ownership of us. There may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if, as described below, the payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement exceed the actual benefits we receive in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement and/or distributions to us by BRP are not sufficient to permit us to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
In addition, although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the IRS to challenge the tax basis increases or other benefits arising under the Tax Receivable Agreement, BRP’s LLC Members will not reimburse us for any payments previously made if such tax basis increases or other tax benefits are subsequently disallowed, except that any excess payments made to BRP’s LLC Members will be netted against future payments otherwise to be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement, if any, after our determination of such excess. As a result, in such circumstances, we could make payments to BRP’s LLC Members under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are greater than our actual cash tax savings and we may not be able to recoup those payments, which could negatively impact our liquidity.
In addition, the Tax Receivable Agreement provides that, upon certain mergers, asset sales or other forms of business combination, or certain other changes of control, our or our successor’s obligations with respect to tax benefits would be based on certain assumptions, including that we or our successor would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the increased tax deductions and tax basis and other benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement. As a result, upon a change of control, we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are greater than the specified percentage of our actual cash tax savings, which could negatively impact our liquidity.
This provision of the Tax Receivable Agreement may result in situations where BRP’s LLC Members have interests that differ from or are in addition to those of our other stockholders. In addition, we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are substantial and in excess of our, or a potential acquirer’s, actual cash savings in income tax.
Our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement will also apply with respect to any person who is issued LLC Units in the future and who becomes a party to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Finally, because we are a holding company with no operations of our own, our ability to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement depends on the ability of BRP to make distributions to us. The New JPM Credit Agreement restricts the ability of BRP to make distributions to us, which could affect our ability to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid, which could negatively impact our results of operations and could also affect our liquidity in periods in which such payments are made.
Risks Relating to Ownership of our Class A Common Stock
Some provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may deter third parties from acquiring us and diminish the value of our Class A common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provide for, among other things:
•division of our board of directors into three classes of directors, with each class as equal in number as possible, serving staggered three-year terms;
•until the Substantial Ownership Requirement is no longer met, BRP’s LLC Members may designate a majority of the nominees for election to our board of directors, including the nominee for election to serve as Chairman of our board of directors;
•our ability to issue additional shares of Class A common stock and to issue preferred stock with terms that our board of directors may determine, in each case without stockholder approval (other than as specified in our certificate of incorporation);
•the absence of cumulative voting in the election of directors; and
•advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and nominations.
These provisions in our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company that is in the best interest of our minority stockholders. Even in the absence of a takeover attempt, the existence of these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock if they are viewed as discouraging future takeover attempts. These provisions could also make it more difficult for stockholders to nominate directors for election to our board of directors and take other corporate actions.
We may issue a substantial amount of our common stock in the future, which could cause dilution to investors and otherwise adversely affect our stock price.
A key element of our growth strategy is to make acquisitions. As part of our acquisition strategy, we may issue shares of our common stock, as well as LLC Units of BRP, as consideration for such acquisitions. These issuances could be significant. To the extent that we make acquisitions and issue our shares of common stock as consideration, your equity interest in us will be diluted. Any such issuance will also increase the number of outstanding shares of common stock that will be eligible for sale in the future. Persons receiving shares of our common stock in connection with these acquisitions may be more likely to sell off their common stock, which may influence the price of our common stock. In addition, the potential issuance of additional shares in connection with anticipated acquisitions could lessen demand for our common stock and result in a lower price than might otherwise be obtained. We may issue a significant amount of our common stock in the future for other purposes as well, including in connection with financings, including to finance the cash portion of acquisition consideration to execute on our Partnership strategy, for compensation purposes, in connection with strategic transactions or for other purposes.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If our remediation of these material weaknesses is not effective, or if we experience additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock.
In connection with our audit of the fiscal year 2018 consolidated financial statements, we identified four material weaknesses in the design and operation of our internal control over financial reporting. The material weaknesses relate to: (i) a lack of sufficient number of personnel with an appropriate level of accounting knowledge, training and experience to appropriately analyze, record and disclose accounting matters timely and accurately; (ii) insufficient policies and procedures to achieve complete and accurate financial accounting, reporting and disclosures; (iii) insufficient policies and procedures to review, analyze, account for and disclose complex transactions and (iv) failure to design and maintain controls over the operating effectiveness of information technology (“IT”) general controls. These material weaknesses still exist at December 31, 2020.
We are continuing the process of planning and implementing a number of steps to enhance our internal control over financial reporting and to address these material weaknesses. We have completed the hiring of key personnel in the accounting department with technical accounting and financial reporting experience and have enhanced our internal review procedures during the financial statement close process. We are continuing to document and improve our processes, implement internal controls procedures and design and implement IT general computer controls.
We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm has not performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act because no such evaluation has been required. Had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, additional material weaknesses may have been identified. As a public company, we will be required in future years to document and assess the effectiveness of our system of internal control over financial reporting to satisfy the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
If we fail to effectively remediate these material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, if we identify future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or if we are unable to comply with the demands that will be placed upon us as a public company, including the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in a timely manner, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, or report them within the timeframes required by the SEC. In addition, if we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, when required, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, we may face restricted access to the capital markets and our stock price may be adversely affected.
We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation and golden parachute payments for so long as we remain an emerging growth company. We also intend to take advantage of an exemption that will permit us to comply with new or revised accounting standards within the same time periods as private companies. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
We expect that our stock price will be volatile, which could cause the value of your investment to decline, and you may not be able to resell your shares for a profit.
Securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our Class A common stock regardless of our results of operations. The trading price of our Class A common stock is likely to be volatile and subject to wide price fluctuations in response to various factors, including:
•market conditions in the broader stock market in general, or in our industry in particular;
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial and results of operations;
•introduction of new products and services by us or our competitors;
•issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
•investor perceptions of us and the industries in which we or our Clients operate;
•low trading volumes or sales, or anticipated sales, of large blocks of our Class A common stock, including those by our existing investors or our Partners;
•concentration of Class A common stock ownership;
•additions or departures of key personnel;
•regulatory or political developments;
•litigation and governmental investigations; and
•changing economic and political conditions.
These and other factors may cause the market price and demand for shares of our Class A common stock to fluctuate substantially, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares of Class A common stock and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our Class A common stock. In addition, in the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders brought a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.
Our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders may be limited by our holding company structure, contractual restrictions and regulatory requirements.
We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our ownership of LLC Units in BRP and we do not have any independent means of generating commissions and fees. We intend to cause BRP to make pro rata distributions to BRP’s LLC Members and us in an amount at least sufficient to allow us and BRP’s LLC Members to pay all applicable taxes, to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and to pay our corporate and other overhead expenses. BRP is a distinct legal entity and may be subject to legal or contractual restrictions that, under certain circumstances, may limit our ability to obtain cash from them. If BRP is unable to make distributions, we may not receive adequate distributions, which could materially and adversely affect our dividends and financial position and our ability to fund any dividends.
Our board of directors will periodically review the cash generated from our business and the capital expenditures required to finance our global growth plans and determine whether to declare periodic dividends to our stockholders. Our board of directors will take into account general economic and business conditions, including our financial condition and results of operations, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, including restrictions and covenants contained in the New JPM Credit Agreement, business prospects and other factors that our board of directors considers relevant. In addition, the New JPM Credit Agreement limits the amount of distributions that BRP can make to us and the purposes for which distributions could be made. Accordingly, we may not be able to pay dividends even if our board of directors would otherwise deem it appropriate. Refer to the Liquidity and Capital Resources section under Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of our Class A common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We currently have research coverage by industry and securities analysts. If no or few analysts continue coverage of us, the trading price of our Class A common stock would likely decrease. If one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our Class A common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our Class A common stock, we could lose visibility in the trading market for our Class A common stock, which in turn could cause our Class A common stock price to decline.