May 14, 2025
Rich Eknoian, CEO – World Insurance Associates
How To Successfully Rollup The World, Rich Eknoian – CEO World Insurance Associates
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The art of business growth often requires being in the right market, at the right time, with the right resources to make an impact—and mastering the discipline of what you are going to build, buy, and borrow. Most companies deploy a mixture of these three methods, but our guest on this episode has mastered the buy side, with a well-funded market-making acquisition machine. Rich Eknoian, CEO of World Insurance Associates, has built one of the fastest-growing insurance companies in the world, which has acquired hundreds of companies that serve over 300,000 clients through 250 carriers in 300 locations—and they are just getting started again.
World continues to lead the market, and their acquisition hot streak, with an additional $1B investment from Goldman Sachs—rocketing them to a $2 billion premium platform. Rich and his team are living the aggressive growth story that most CEO’s only dream about. Follow along as we unpack the secrets of this record-breaking organization, how they are leveraging AI technology, along with the spoils and tough challenges that come with the journey.
Balancing The Build, Buy, Borrow Rollup Conundrum
Although Rich is on an acquisition tear right now, rolling up hundreds of companies, there is still a balance needed between the other aspects. As Rich puts it, “multiple arbitrage ss the only strategy for a company doing what we do is not good.” The balance they have been aiming for is 8% organic EBITDA growth while also having a 30% inorganic growth through acquisitions. An ambitious model where “as the numbers get larger, that 8% and 30% will have to change,” according to Rich, will lead to the business doubling in growth every two years. Now, although that is a bunch of corporate lingo, the game plan to double every two years is very real, and if that momentum keeps going, World is looking to be sitting very pretty.
How To Deal With The Hard Markets
Two major tough points in the insurance industry have been California and Florida, as they are two states that deal with things like wildfires and hurricanes, respectively, which have caused many insurance companies to pull out of those states. This has left a void in the insurance market that, at some point, is going to get filled. Rich calls it the “ebb and flow” of the industry, even continuing to say, “you’re going to see that market come back a little bit. We’re well-positioned to take advantage of it in both cases.” From a business standpoint it makes sense to wait for the time to strike to make the best choice for the company as possible, although it does come with the side effects of a mass of people being under-insured as the markets have dried up.
The Largest Challenge When Growing This Fast
For all the impressive milestones that Rich and his team have reached with, there are still many challenges that lie ahead for the company and leadership team. One of those challenges that Rich is concerned about is “the amount of time that I need to spend just building the team,” especially as a company that is growing as fast as they are. It is not easy to jump onto a moving bullet train, but that is what is needed to join a company like this. So for now, Rich is in the role of an HR guy and hopes that “Someday I’ll be an M&A guy again.”
