Under its incoming CEO, Erin Lynch, CAC Group will continue to look for opportunities to expand in specialty sectors, including through acquisitions, Ms. Lynch said in an interview last week.

The Denver-based company, which will be the highest-ranked brokerage in the Business Insurance Top 100 U.S. brokers with a female CEO when Ms. Lynch takes over this quarter, completed the acquisition of completion bond provider Media Guarantor in September and is open to other deals, she said.

“We’re still 100% employee-owned and in a really good position to be nimble and act fast and take advantage of what we’re seeing in terms of consolidation in the brokerage market right now,” Ms. Lynch said.

CAC Group, the 36th largest broker of U.S.  business, comprises CAC Specialty, formed in 2019, and CAC Agency, which includes the business of Cobbs Allen, a small- and middle-market commercial brokerage formed nearly 150 years ago. The businesses merged in 2023 with Mike Rice as CEO. Mr. Rice will transition to be vice chairman of the brokerage.

CAC expects to report nearly $295 million in revenue for 2024, compared with $248.8 million in 2023.

The specialty division’s main businesses are directors and officers liability insurance, representing about $60 million in revenue; transactional liability, also worth $60 million; and natural resources, with close to $40 million, Ms. Lynch said.

The agency business saw about 18% growth last year, she said.

“The collaboration between our specialty business and agency business really started to take hold in 2024,” Ms. Lynch said. “It’s provided such incredible opportunities for that agency business to take advantage of the resources that exist in specialty, and we are seeing that business explode.”

Ms. Lynch, named one of the Business Insurance Women to Watch in 2017, joined CAC Specialty from Beecher Carlson Insurance Holdings Inc. in 2021 as president of its natural resources division and co-leader of power, utilities and renewables. The seven-person team she initially headed has since grown to 80, she said.

Based in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Lynch shifted from broadcast journalism to insurance when she joined what is now Willis Towers Watson PLC in 2005.

The early morning starts as a sports reporter and morning news anchor, and the need to move frequently to advance a broadcasting career led her to review her options. A friend working at WTW suggested insurance.

Early mentors advised her to focus on a specialty and something she was passionate about.

“For me, that was energy, power and renewables and natural resources,” Ms. Lynch said. “Twenty years ago, there wasn’t a lot of focus on renewables, so when I started working in power generation and natural resources, I carved out a niche there.”

When she started in the business, she was the only female producer in the office.

“It’s always been really important to me as a leader, when I came into leadership roles in this industry, to demonstrate to women in our industry that career path opportunities exist in sales, in leadership and every pocket of our industry,” Ms. Lynch said.