Although merger and acquisition activity slowed in 2016, that doesn't appear to be the same picture for 2017. According to the most recent report from PwC, "US Insurance Deals Insights 1H2017," M&A activity in the insurance sector more than tripled to $10 billion in the first half of 2017 compared to $2.9 billion the same time period last year.

The largest announced deal in the first half of 2017 came from the brokerage section with the acquisition of USI by an investor group that included private equity firm KKR and Canadian pension fund CDPQ. The price tag? $4.3 billion.

Two other deals in the early part of the year were also valued at more than $1 billion:

• In May of 2017, a special purpose acquisition company, CF Corporation, including funds affiliated with Blackstone and Fidelity National Financial, announced $1.8 billion acquisition of annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life.
• Canada's largest P&C insurer, Intact Financial, acquired specialty insurer OneBeacon from White Mountains for $1.7 billion.

Insurance brokers most active

In the property & casualty sector, deal activity declined for the first half of the year, but PwC sees opportunities for small to medium size companies to build the scale they need through continued consolidation. The report also found that insurance brokers were the most active industry section in terms of deal volume for the period, accounting for 90%. The most activity came from larger firms buying regional brokers, adding to the consolidation in the market. The five most active acquirers were Hub International, NFP, Arthur J. Gallagher, AssuredPartners and Acrisure.