Books of business, stocks and bonuses: How brokers like to be compensated

Job-hunting brokers may begin to see new types of compensation packages as firms look to attract top producers, one insurance recruitment expert tells Canadian Underwriter. 

“We’re seeing compensation packages that historically haven’t been as widely available,” says Stefan Rolfe, director of insurance at Impact Recruitment. “So that’s one of the main things. Besides the senior leadership and strategic owners, it’s mostly for production staff.” 

Base salaries remain competitive, but they’re not increasing as aggressively as they have been in previous years, Impact Recruitment reports in its Insurance Salary Guide 2025. Rather, traditional salary structures are evolving toward more performance-driven models. 

New types of compensation 

Bonuses — tied to individual performance, company-wide profit, and customer retention — are becoming a larger part of total compensation, especially in mid-sized brokerages. 

Plus, signing bonuses remain common, particularly for candidates leaving behind roles with upcoming annual bonuses. And many firms are implementing retention bonuses to keep high-performing employees from leaving within their first 12 to 24 months. 

Stock options, equity ownership, and book-of-business ownership are all increasingly offered at mid-sized brokerages looking to hire or retain talent.

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“We’re seeing equity and share options — something [for brokers] to work towards — it’s really a key driver to attract the individual…and to keep them long-term,” Rolfe says.

“We’re seeing that book ownership,” he adds. “Anyone in production that is either bringing business with them, or [bringing over] a team of people along with business, or who are starting up a brand new division or a department for a firm from scratch, then I think it’s fair to ask for it, whereas in the past, I don’t think that’s been as widely available.” 

Producers with an existing book of business will be among the most sought-after candidates in 2025 as firms look to expand their client base while maintaining strong renewal rates. 

Owning a book of business is an appealing way for high-revenue brokers to increase their earnings while building a successful practice. 

“Some people don’t want to take on the burden of managing their own business, because that could be like a whole different play in itself,” says Rolfe. “So, having the benefits of owning your own business, minus some of the headaches, it can be really appealing to people.” 

When a lower salary could mean better candidates 

On the other hand, some candidates use lower salaries as bargaining chips to secure remote work. 

For Rolfe, that goes to show why employers must remain flexible with their in-office policies: allowing hybrid or remote work just might get them the better candidate, at a lower cost.  

“We had a client that was looking for just an account manager as a service role, and they could have either been in-office or remote,” he says.  

“We had two candidates that interviewed, and one came with over double the experience, and they were asking for slightly less money, just because of the area that they live in and the desire to have a fully remote role — versus this person who was more local, [asking for] a more expensive salary, with less experience.” 

Alyssa DiSabatino

Alyssa Di Sabatino has been a reporter for Canadian Underwriter since 2021, covering industry trends, market developments, and emerging risks.