Fred Zutel, President – Property & Casualty Division, Lockton

In an interview with Invest:, Fred Zutel, president of the property and casualty division at Lockton, discussed Florida’s insurance environment, the shift toward advisory-based risk management, and the opportunities created by growth in real estate and private equity. “Data really matters only if it helps you change your decision,” Zutel said.

How is Lockton leveraging its global platform and resources to address Florida’s unique risk environment?

Lockton is the world’s largest independent insurance broker; we are privately owned with no outside debt and achieved $4 billion in revenue in 2025. That scale translates locally to delivering great service in a market like Florida. 

We are insurance brokers and risk management consultants, and are also involved in the reinsurance business, which is highly relevant to how catastrophe insurance capacity is structured in Florida. 

South Florida clients, particularly those in real estate and construction, have learned after hurricanes such as Ian and Milton that a broker who only shows up at renewal is insufficient. We have seen a shift toward a more advisory and consultative role instead of just transactions. Our consultative approach has resulted in Lockton’s overall 94% client retention rate. 

How has the Florida insurance market shifted from a transactional brokerage model to a more consultative risk advisory approach?

Florida is one of the most challenging insurance markets in the United States due to its significant exposure to hurricanes and other natural catastrophes. 

The shift to a more advisory model is not a trend. It is a requirement for companies that want to maintain a competitive advantage. For us, that means being engaged throughout the year and truly understanding their business.

From an insurance perspective, that can mean stress-testing an insurance program, conducting coverage audits, and negotiating with lenders. In real estate and construction, we aim to engage during the pre-development phase, as insurance costs in Florida can reach 7%–8% of total project value. For large-scale projects, this represents a significant financial impact. Our role extends beyond policy placement; we want to help developers structure insurance, negotiate with lenders and contractors, and do more than just provide a policy.

What strategies are proving most effective for helping Florida businesses manage property and catastrophe risk?

Florida, particularly South Florida, has the strongest and most robust building codes in the country. However, many buildings were built before those codes were created.

Insurance companies have responded, especially after Hurricane Ian, by applying more scrutiny to construction quality. Buildings with lower resiliency and construction quality will be priced differently than a new building that meets or exceeds current codes.

One of the most important strategies is understanding why and how much insurance you are buying. A lot of insurance is driven by lenders and financing requirements. During the hard insurance market in 2023, lenders were able to help relieve this burden by modifying insurance requirements.

Clients with portfolios can combine assets into a master insurance program, spread their risk, drive down costs, and secure better coverage. From a development perspective, partnering with the lender and contractor to suit the insurance to the risk is critical.

We are not suggesting that clients underinsure anything. We are suggesting that all stakeholders adequately protect the project without going overboard just to check a box.

How is Lockton helping employers balance cost containment with employee benefits and workforce outcomes?

My primary focus is property and casualty insurance, but Lockton has a large practice that handles employee benefits.

Having a robust plan for health and benefit insurance is a key recruitment and HR tool. Companies that manage these plans better can have stronger employee retention, better engagement, lower costs, and better outcomes for employees.

It is important to make sure those plans are audited and managed by professionals who understand them and can challenge outcomes. Rising healthcare and health insurance costs are not problems that appear to be going away anytime soon.

How are private equity and M&A activity influencing demand for insurance brokerage and risk advisory services in Florida?

South Florida is one of the most active private equity markets in the country, especially in real estate, but also in hospitality, healthcare services, and technology. Our client base places us directly within that ecosystem.

These platforms are often looking for insurance programs that can scale with portfolio acquisitions. Every dollar saved on insurance can directly translate into an increase in company value.

We provide services around insurance for acquisitions and portfolio companies, and also help transactions run more smoothly through solutions such as rep and warranty insurance and tax liability insurance. Those products continue to become more popular. Our transaction liability practice grew by 60% last year, reflecting the record deal volume we have been seeing.

What role do data analytics and digital tools play in helping clients reduce their total cost of risk?

This is an incredibly important discussion, especially as it relates to property insurance in Florida. A significant part of our time is spent helping clients quantify and analyze the risk facing their portfolios.

There is a substantial amount of analytics involved in property insurance placement, including modeling catastrophe exposure at the portfolio level, helping clients understand where they are underinsured or overinsured, and communicating that information to lenders.

Data and analytics also help clients ensure that portfolio information submitted to insurance companies is accurate. If you have a large portfolio with hundreds of locations, it can be difficult to maintain that information accurately and present it properly to insurers.

Benchmarking is also important because it helps clients understand how their insurance compares with similar portfolios. Data really matters only if it helps you change your decision.

Which industries are driving the greatest demand for specialized risk expertise in Florida?

The industries we are most focused on and seeing the most growth from are real estate, construction, and private equity. Our team has grown five-fold in the last five years while servicing the needs of these clients. 

We service more than 100 private equity firms out of our offices in Florida, as well as hundreds of real estate companies. Each industry focus requires specialized brokerage capabilities and technical expertise. Our service model is tailored to each client. One team member may only handle 10 to 12 relationships, which allows for robust interaction and bespoke solutions.

With Florida’s growth, especially in South Florida’s real estate development and construction space, insurance capacity is constrained. It is important to have a broker who understands the business to present and tell the client’s story in a way that gets the best results.

How is Lockton supporting clients with cross-border risk and insurance programs?

In addition to having 140+ offices worldwide, Lockton’s Caribbean and Central American headquarters is based in Brickell, and it handles hundreds of millions of dollars in premiums across more than 35 countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and Latin America.

With Miami being the gateway to that part of the world, we encounter these issues regularly. That includes clients here who are looking to invest and develop elsewhere, as well as clients from other countries establishing Miami as a base.

Insurance for multinational portfolios or clients with operations in different countries can be nuanced because requirements can change depending on governments, rules, regulations, and oversight.

Having someone who can help connect those dots and avoid redundancy, such as purchasing the same policy multiple times, helps drive the best outcomes. 

How are you advising clients through current insurance market volatility?

There have been a lot of headlines about insurance, but in 2025 and now into 2026, the market in Florida has stabilized quite a bit. A lot of clients are seeing price reductions for the first time in many years after record increases.

Property insurance rates have declined significantly following several years of increases exceeding 30%-40%. However, the Florida market remains highly volatile, and a series of severe storm events could quickly reverse this trend.

Even if clients are saving money today, that does not mean they should not be proactive. The opportunity exists to engage deeply with clients to give them the best chance of beating the market and getting a better-than-market result. That starts early, 120 or 180 days out, rather than waiting until shortly before renewal.

As capacity comes back into the market, it is not just about saving money. There are other improvements clients can make to their insurance programs, such as different deductible structures or parametric insurance. We are exploring what insurance companies are willing to do now that they were not willing to do two or three years ago, when capacity was more constrained.