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Founder / Operator·Insurance Brokerage

Mike Christian

Founder at Risk Strategies

Boston, MA

MC
Why they matter

Built a middle-market brokerage from scratch into a $9.8B PE exit and is now actively redeploying capital and board time into new insurance-distribution platforms.

Background

Mike Christian founded Risk Strategies Company in 1997 after starting his insurance career as a California underwriter and holding senior roles at Alexander & Alexander/Aon and Jardine Insurance Brokers (including a seat on Jardine's U.S. Board). He served as CEO from 1997 to 2019, then as Executive Chairman until 2025, growing the firm from a solo consulting shop into the 9th-largest privately held U.S. insurance broker with ~$1.7B in revenue before its 2025 sale. He holds CPCU, CLU, and ARM designations and studied philosophy at UC Santa Barbara.

Notable deals

  • 2015
    Sold majority stake in Risk Strategies to Kelso & Company, buying out Kohlberg & Company's 2013 position and funding national expansion
  • 2020
    Completed a Kelso-led recapitalization of Risk Strategies to fund continued M&A and specialty practice growth
  • 2025
    Built Risk Strategies (via parent Accession) to the scale sold to Brown & Brown for $9.8B, one of the largest PE exits in insurance brokerage history
  • 2026
    Joined the Board of Directors of King Risk Partners, a top-51 U.S. insurance brokerage, post-Risk Strategies exit

Call-prep brief

Background

Mike Christian founded Risk Strategies in 1997 and ran it as CEO for 22 years, then Executive Chairman, before Kelso & Company sold parent Accession Risk Management (Risk Strategies + One80 Intermediaries) to Brown & Brown for $9.8B in 2025 — one of the largest private-equity exits in insurance brokerage history. He has lived through two full PE ownership cycles (Kohlberg 2013, Kelso 2015 and 2020 recap).

Current focus

  • Joined King Risk Partners' board (April 2026) — a much smaller, Florida-based brokerage — signaling he's staying active in insurance distribution post-exit rather than fully retiring.
  • Managing Partner of Community Impact Ventures, a venture fund backing youth-focused social entrepreneurs.
  • Long-running President of Someone Else's Child, a nonprofit he co-founded with his wife Diane in 1998.

What he cares about

  • Preserving culture and client-centricity through hyper-growth and multiple PE ownership changes.
  • Specialty/middle-market focus over competing head-on with global brokers.
  • Buy-and-build M&A discipline — Risk Strategies did 180+ acquisitions under Kelso.

Potential sensitivities

  • He's now on a competitor-adjacent board (King Risk Partners) — be mindful of what he can discuss regarding Risk Strategies/Brown & Brown post-close.
  • Non-compete/non-solicit terms from the 2025 sale may constrain specifics he'll share.

Questions to ask

  1. What did the two Kelso ownership cycles (2015 initial investment, 2020 recap) teach you about structuring PE partnerships that founders should insist on?
  2. What drew you to King Risk Partners specifically, and what's the playbook you'd apply there versus what you built at Risk Strategies?
  3. Post-exit, where do you see the next wave of consolidation opportunity in middle-market brokerage?

Outreach draft

Subject
Lessons from building to a $9.8B exit
Hi Mike, I work with a private equity team focused on insurance distribution and brokerage. Your run building Risk Strategies from a solo shop into a $9.8B exit — through two distinct PE ownership cycles — is exactly the perspective we'd value as we think about our own thesis in the space, especially given your new board role at King Risk Partners. Would you have 20 minutes in the next couple of weeks for an informal conversation? Happy to work around your schedule and share our current thinking beforehand. Best, [Your name] [Your firm]

Linked companies

Sources

Strongest evidencePage title10 public sourcesVerified2026-08-10How the grades work