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Woodruff Sawyer

Insurance brokerage and risk management consulting

Overview

Woodruff Sawyer provides risk management, insurance brokerage, and employee benefits services to commercial clients. It helps clients identify and manage risks, then places tailored insurance policies and delivers ongoing consulting to improve risk strategies. The work combines policy placement with proactive risk advisory, supported by fees and commissions from services rendered. The firm differentiates itself through deep expertise in the technology sector and emerging market trends, enabling it to offer targeted, foresight-driven insurance solutions and trusted guidance. Its goal is to be a reliable partner by delivering practical, fairly priced risk management and insurance services that meet each client’s unique needs.

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About Woodruff Sawyer

Simplify's Rating
Why Woodruff Sawyer is rated
B+
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated A on Growth Potential
Rated B on Differentiation

Industries

ConsultingFinancial Services

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$1.2B

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA

Founded

1918

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Simplify's take

What believers are saying

  • Woodruff Sawyer’s 2026 GPL guide targets VC and PE liability demand.
  • 2025 cyber and P&C guides cited softer pricing, easing renewals and retention.
  • Gallagher’s scale expands cross-selling into larger accounts and more geographies.

What critics are saying

  • Gallagher completed the acquisition April 10, 2025, ending Woodruff Sawyer’s standalone independence.
  • Integration under Peter Doyle can trigger talent flight and client defections during 2026.
  • Gallagher’s broader brokerage platform can fully subsume Woodruff Sawyer, erasing the brand.

What makes Woodruff Sawyer unique

  • Tech-sector specialization and deep cyber, management liability, and benefits advisory expertise.
  • Woodruff Sawyer’s WS Connect digitizes employee benefits administration and client workflows.
  • Gallagher bought Woodruff Sawyer for $1.2 billion, validating its niche platform.

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Funding

Total Funding

$1.2B

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

1 Rounds

Acquisition funding comparison data is currently unavailable. We're working to provide this information soon!
Acquisition Funding Comparison Coming Soon

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • Flexible Spending Account/Flexible Spending Account
  • Unlimited Paid Time Off
  • Paid Vacation
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • Paid Holidays
  • Hybrid Work Options
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

-1%

2 year growth

-1%
Insurance Journal
Oct 21st, 2026
Insurtech SecondSight puts together exec leadership with 6 hires.

Insurtech SecondSight puts together exec leadership with 6 hires. October 21, 2026 Insurtech SecondSight announced six executive appointments to lead the company's expansion into additional lines of business. Derek Foreman joins as chief operating officer, Dan Shoten as chief customer officer, James Tullett and David Anderson as co-heads of client engagement, Kenneth Ross as head of channel strategy and Doug Schulkin as head of revenue operations. Earlier this month, Bloomington, Indiana-based SecondSight announced Series A funding. At the time, Jamie Bouloux was appointed president. Bouloux is former CEO of Ryan Financial Lines and EmergIn Risk. SecondSight says it is the first AI-driven platform that brings telematics to digital risk. Its operating system, SHAPE, learns from customers' data and external signals to reveal how risks connect and evolve in order to help brokers, underwriters and executives anticipate exposures and act on growth opportunities. Derek Foreman joins SecondSight from Bloom Insurance, where he spent 17 years as COO and later CTO. As CTO, Foreman raised the capital to launch Ascend, a SaaS quoting and enrollment platform. Dan Shoten most recently served as managing partner at Zag Capital, a single-family office with investments in startups, venture capital, real estate and services businesses. Previously, Shoten spent a decade as an early operator at several high-growth startups including AppNexus (Acquired), OrderGroove and Rockerbox (Acquired). David Anderson previously served as vice president of cyber at Woodruff Sawyer, U.S. head of cyber at McGill and Partners, and head of major accounts at Lockton. H James Tullett began his career at JLT in London, placing complex cyber risks in the Lloyd's market before moving to the U.S. to develop JLT's cyber offering. Following JLT's acquisition by Marsh, he became one of the firm's Northeast cyber leaders. Kenneth Ross was most recently COO of the private equity practice at CAC Specialty. He previously served in senior roles in WTW's M&A and transactional risk practices and Lockton's financial institutions group. Doug Schulkin has nearly 20 years of insurance experience, including roles at AIG, The Hartford, Travelers and Chubb. Most recently, he built a $3 million book of business from scratch in 18 months as a broker at Anzen. Was this article valuable? Interested in Insurtech? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

Yahoo Finance
Mar 30th, 2025
7 Top Scams Targeting Wealthy Americans

The more money you have, the more you have for scammers to steal. Wealthy Americans make juicy targets for fraudsters. A single well-executed scam can steal hundreds of thousands in one transaction. Read More: 3 Signs You’ve ‘Made It’ Financially, According to Financial Influencer Genesis Hinckley Find Out: 8 Common Mistakes Retirees Make With Their Social Security Checks So what are the most common scams targeting wealthy Americans in the post-Artificial Intelligence (AI) world? You’ve heard of phishing: attempts to get victims to share sensitive information that scammers can use to steal money or identities. Whaling takes phishing to the next level by personally targeting wealthy or powerful individuals. “These are not crimes of opportunity — they are targeted, deliberate operations,” said James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4. “Attackers will use OSINT (open-source intelligence) on the target and their family and friends to gain access

Investing.com
Mar 5th, 2025
Gallagher to acquire insurance broker Woodruff Sawyer for $1.2B

Additionally, Gallagher expanded its footprint in the Upper Midwest by acquiring Dyste Williams, a Minneapolis-based retail insurance agency.

StockTitan
Mar 4th, 2025
Gallagher Acquires Woodruff Sawyer for $1.2B

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced a definitive agreement to acquire Woodruff Sawyer for $1.2 billion, subject to regulatory approval, expected to close in Q2 2025. Woodruff Sawyer, based in San Francisco, offers commercial property/casualty products and risk management services. The acquisition aims to enhance client offerings and expand capabilities. Woodruff Sawyer's pro forma revenues and EBITDAC for 2024 were approximately $268 million and $88 million, respectively.

Crain Communications
Mar 4th, 2025
Arthur J. Gallagher inks $1.2 billion deal for commercial insurance brokerage

Insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. bought Woodruff Sawyer, a provider of commercial property and casualty insurance products, employee benefits solutions and risk management services, for $1.2 billion, the companies said today.

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