State of the Market - Accumulators were the best bet

The period since the last publication of the Top 100 Supplement has been notable for the increased pace of consolidation (see table 1), with nine brokers having disappeared from the list as a result of acquisition. The total premium income controlled by these firms was about £350m and the consolidators, which have increased their share of the market, have acquired the most.

The top 10 now control about £2.2bn of income, an increase of 10% over last year. Bearing in mind that the soft market is