Cottingham & Butler

What Cottingham & Butler does

Cottingham & Butler is a privately-held, independent national insurance broker headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, self-identified as the 3rd largest privately and independently held insurance broker in the U.S. and ranked 35th among U.S. insurance brokers overall. Founded by Dixon Cottingham and now under the executive chairmanship of Andy Butler—signaling long-running family stewardship—the firm provides Property & Casualty brokerage and consulting, Employee Benefits, Captives & Programs, Safety Management Services, and Claims Management, with deep vertical specialization across construction, food & agribusiness (including meat slaughter/processing and dairy cooperatives), transportation, manufacturing, hotels & resorts, tribal nations, waste management & recycling, and personal lines.

The firm's underlying technology stack centers on a proprietary Fire and Risk Technology Platform for safety management, a 3C's Analysis Framework (Coverage, Cost, Consumption) for benchmarking-driven program structuring, and a dedicated Food & Agribusiness platform that combines market data, carrier relationships, and FDA-recognized PCQI food safety expertise—operated in partnership with TAG (The Acheson Group). Distribution is direct enterprise field sales; marketing is built around a 329+ article content library, an annual Transportation Summit drawing 550+ trucking executives, Better Every Day Seminars across multiple cities, and regular webinars on OSHA, FMCSA, captives, and benefits compliance. Strategic alliances include Assurex Global (global broker network access) and food-safety content collaboration with TAG.

Cottingham & Butler generates revenue through insurance carrier commissions on placed policies, supplemented by fees on Captives & Programs, Safety Management Services, and Claims Management engagements; pricing is quote-based and varies by client risk profile, industry, coverage requirements, and program structure, with annual billing as the norm. Client relationships are anchor-led with documented enterprise outcomes—including ~$3M in savings for a beef processor, 28% property premium reduction ($675K) for a milk cooperative, $1M+ for a contractor consolidating six programs, 44% premium reduction for a renewable energy client, and 36% benefit spend reduction for a tribal nation client—evidence of stickier, value-based engagements rather than transactional placement.

Name

Cottingham & Butler

Legal name

Cottingham & Butler

Website

https://cottinghambutler.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1880

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Cottingham & Butler is a privately-held, independent national insurance broker and the 3rd largest privately held insurance broker in the U.S., delivering Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits, Captives, Safety Management, and Claims services to enterprise and mid-market clients across construction, transportation, food and agribusiness, tribal nations, and other specialized verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Insurance Brokerage & Risk Management

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210), Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Insurance Brokerage (Marine, Aviation, Cyber, Professional Lines) (FSAEADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Construction Specialty (Wrap-Ups/Builders Risk/Contractors) (FSAJAGAH), Contractors BOP / Artisan Package (FSAJAFAD)

Keywords

• Insurance brokerage
• Risk management
• Employee benefits
• Commercial insurance
• Captive insurance

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubuque

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Insurance Brokerage Commissions: Cottingham & Butler generates revenue as an insurance broker through commissions paid by insurance carriers on placed policies. The company offers Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits, Captives & Programs, Safety Management Services, and Claims Management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cottingham & Butler is a national insurance broker that places Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits, Captives & Programs, Safety Management, and Claims Management solutions for commercial clients. It pairs brokerage with consulting across specialized verticals including construction, transportation, food & agribusiness, manufacturing, hotels & resorts, tribal nations, waste management, and private equity/M&A. Revenue is generated via commissions paid by insurance carriers on placed policies.

Product overview

Cottingham & Butler is a privately-held national insurance broker offering a unified platform of risk management and employee benefits services. The core offerings include Property & Casualty Insurance & Consulting and Employee Benefits Solutions, supported by specialized services like Captives & Programs, Safety Management Services, and Claims Management. The company serves multiple industry verticals including Construction, Food & Agribusiness, Transportation, Manufacturing, Hotels & Resorts, Tribal Nations, Private Equity/M&A, Waste Management & Recycling, and Personal Lines. The portfolio integrates insurance brokerage with consulting services, risk engineering, and compliance advisory to provide comprehensive risk management across all client segments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Property & Casualty Insurance & Consulting

Quantifiable outcome

• ~$3M program savings achieved for beef processor through complete program restructure and elimination of unnecessary broker layers
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Saxe Doernberger & VitaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Will Bennett of Saxe Doernberger & Vita for co-presenting at CFMA National Conference on Claims in Crisis session, focusing on claims preparedness and navigating critical first hours after a loss.
• Guignard CompanyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSurety partnership for co-hosting happy hour at CFMA National Conference, bringing together clients, prospects, and industry peers.
• TAG (The Acheson Group)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood safety partnership with TAG, the world's leading food safety consultancy, for PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual) training curriculum recognized by the FDA, helping Cottingham & Butler provide cutting-edge food safety expertise to clients.
• Assurex GlobalminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with Assurex Global for webinar series delivery, positioning Cottingham & Butler as part of a global network of insurance advisors.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Lockton Companies: Largest privately held insurance broker in the U.S., headquartered in Kansas City with a similar mid-market and large-enterprise field sales model. Closest comparable to Cottingham & Butler in terms of independent ownership structure, vertical specialization, and scale among private brokers.
• Brown & Brown, Inc. Public insurance brokerage firm with strong U.S. retail and specialty platform across P&C, employee benefits, and programs. Comparable to Cottingham & Butler in vertical segmentation strategy and middle-market focus, though larger and more acquisitive.
• Hub International: PE-owned (Hellman & Friedman, Blackstone minority) North American insurance broker with deep specialty practices in transportation, construction, and other verticals. Closely comparable service mix and vertical focus, with a similar middle-market and enterprise client base.
• USI Insurance Services: PE-backed (Kohlberg & Company) insurance brokerage and consulting firm with comparable middle-market focus, property & casualty and employee benefits offering, and consolidator strategy. Direct competitor for mid-market enterprise clients.
• AssuredPartners: PE-backed (Goldman Sachs / GTCR / Madison Dearborn) U.S. insurance broker with strong vertical specialization including construction, transportation, and public sector. Comparable business model and mid-market enterprise focus, with rapid M&A-driven growth.
• Leavitt Group: Privately held, family-influenced U.S. insurance agency and brokerage firm with comparable vertical breadth including agribusiness, construction, and employee benefits. Closely comparable independent ownership model and full-service offering, though smaller in scale.
• Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. Privately held, employee-owned California-based insurance broker with similar mid-market enterprise focus, employee benefits practice, and specialty expertise. Comparable independent ownership and service model, though more geographically concentrated.

Broad incumbents

• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Public, large-cap global broker with deep specialty practices across P&C, benefits, and risk management. Comparable in service breadth and vertical coverage but operates at substantially greater scale and as a publicly traded consolidator with an active M&A program.
• Marsh McLennan: Largest global insurance broker and risk advisor (parent of Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, Oliver Wyman). Comparable core offerings (P&C brokerage, employee benefits consulting) but operates globally with significant scale advantage in enterprise and multinational accounts.
• Aon plc: Global professional services firm offering risk management, insurance brokerage, and HR consulting (Aon Risk Solutions, Aon Hewitt). Overlaps with Cottingham & Butler's P&C and employee benefits offerings, with much larger global scale and technology investment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cottinghambutler
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cottingham-&-butler
• Xx.com/cbutler87

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cottingham & Butler