Holmes Murphy

Holmes Murphy is an American independent insurance brokerage and risk-management firm headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. It is one of the larger privately held brokerages in the United States, advising businesses and individuals on commercial property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, surety, personal lines and related risk services. Because it is not a carrier, its role is advisory and intermediary: it designs coverage programs, places risk with insurers, and supports clients with claims advocacy, safety and loss-control consulting, and benefits administration support. The firm's client base spans middle-market and large employers across sectors such as construction, manufacturing, agribusiness, health care, financial institutions and public entities, alongside private clients buying home, auto and umbrella coverage. Holmes Murphy has grown largely organically and through selective acquisitions of regional agencies, extending its footprint beyond its Iowa base into multiple US states. It is employee-owned, a structure that shapes its positioning as an independent, client-aligned broker rather than a division of a global insurance carrier. Culturally, Holmes Murphy is known in the industry for a long-running emphasis on workplace culture and employee ownership, and it has been recognized in regional and national employer rankings. Its brand promise centers on independence, deep sector specialization and long-tenured client relationships rather than on mass-market consumer advertising. The firm competes with other large independent brokers and with the brokerage arms of global insurance groups, differentiating through local service teams and specialized practice groups. This dossier describes the brokerage brand only. No supplied evidence snippet relates to Holmes Murphy; the entry is built from well-established public facts about the firm and should be verified against the company's own disclosures before use in any regulated context.

Holmes Murphy traces its origins to 1932, when the agency was established in Des Moines, Iowa. Over the following decades it developed from a regional Iowa agency into one of the larger independent brokerages in the American Midwest, building practices around commercial insurance, surety and employee benefits for employers in construction, manufacturing, agribusiness and health care. A defining structural feature of the firm is employee ownership. Rather than being absorbed into a global carrier or a publicly traded brokerage group, Holmes Murphy has remained privately held with broad employee ownership, which the firm presents as the basis for its independence and long-tenured staff. That structure supported steady expansion through new offices and the acquisition of regional agencies, extending the brand beyond Iowa into additional US markets while keeping local service teams. Through the 2000s and 2010s the firm invested in specialization, forming practice groups for industries such as construction, health care, financial institutions and public entities, and expanding its benefits and risk-management consulting capabilities alongside traditional brokerage. It also built out claims advocacy and safety consulting services to differentiate from brokers competing purely on price. Holmes Murphy has been recognized in regional and national workplace and employer rankings, and it uses its culture and ownership model as a recruiting and client-facing differentiator. The firm remains an active acquirer of smaller agencies and continues to operate as an independent US brokerage brand.

• 1932

  Agency founded in Des Moines, Iowa.

• Expansion from a regional Iowa agency into a multi-state independent brokerage.

• Development of industry practice groups and benefits/risk-management consulting.

Independent, employee-owned brokerage emphasizing sector specialization and long-term client relationships.

• Commercial insurance brokerage

• Employee benefits consulting

• Surety bonds

• Personal lines insurance

• Risk management and loss control

• 2022.02.10

  Holmes Murphy promotes Brooks Deibele to enterprise sales leader[2]Holmes Murphy晋升Brooks Deibele为企业销售负责人dmcityview.com

  Holmes Murphy promoted Brooks Deibele to Enterprise Sales Leader, Employee Benefits; he previously led the company's Minneapolis Employee Benefits team as Regional Market Leader.

• Unconfirmed

  Reported2019.09.24

  Holmes Murphy acquires Global Captive Management[3]Holmes Murphy 收购 Global Captive Managementinsurancebusinessmag.com

  Holmes Murphy acquired Global Captive Management (GCM), an independent captive management company.

Read more

1. 1Holmes Murphy official websiteholmesmurphy.com
2. 2Holmes Murphy晋升Brooks Deibele为企业销售负责人dmcityview.com
3. 3Holmes Murphy 收购 Global Captive Managementinsurancebusinessmag.com