IVCA Feature: New Member Profile of Lockton Companies
October 15, 2025
As the new member participants in the Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA) keeps expanding, the current membership are given new opportunities for networking, in addition to optimizing support and partnerships, which leads to guidance and new ideas for Venture Capital, Private Equity and support industries.
The latest new member is the firm of the Lockton Companies, who is the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage, and provides customized solutions to meet an organization’s risk, benefits and retirement needs.
The following is a Q&A profile with Lockton Companies, which explores the firm’s background and their expectations for interacting with the IVCA.
New Member: Lockton Companies
Representative: Joe Spallina, Senior Vice President
IVCA: What is a brief history of and background of Lockton Companies?
Lockton: Lockton Companies was founded in 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri by Jack Lockton. From its entrepreneurial beginnings, Lockton has grown into the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage firm. Known for its client-first culture and private ownership model, the company expanded throughout key regional markets across the U.S. before growing internationally.
Today, Lockton serves clients in more than 140 countries, offering expertise across risk management, employee benefits, retirement, and private risk solutions. Its continued success is rooted in a commitment to innovation, independence, and long-term client partnerships.
IVCA: Why did the firm decide to join the Illinois Venture Capital Association?
Lockton: We believe that investing in companies to help them grow is not only good for business, it creates jobs, fuels innovation, and strengthens the economy. Lockton has a long history of supporting the investment community in Chicago, rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit of our founder, Jack Lockton.
That legacy continues today as we partner with Private Equity and Venture Capital firms to provide strategic risk management solutions across transactions and portfolio companies. We’re excited to deepen our engagement with this dynamic community.
IVCA: You mention on your website that even given your size, Lockton remains a family organization with a more independent approach towards your clients. How does that independence create better outcomes in serving the client’s needs?
Lockton: Lockton’s independence is a defining advantage in how we serve our clients.
As a privately held, family-owned firm, we’re free from shareholder pressures allowing us to prioritize client outcomes above all else. Ron Lockton, our CEO, often emphasizes that this independence empowers our Associates to make fast, local decisions, tailor solutions to each client’s unique needs, and invest in specialized practices that drive innovation.
It also fosters a strong, values-driven culture that leads to exceptional client retention and satisfaction. Independence isn’t just a structure, it’s a mindset that enables us to deliver better results, every time.
IVCA: The size of your organization includes over 100 worldwide offices. What kind of expertise has been forged through the scope of your global reach, and what advantages does it have for potential clients?
Lockton: Lockton’s global reach delivers meaningful advantages to our clients.
With offices in over 100 cities and capabilities in more than 150 countries, Lockton has built deep expertise across industries and geographies. Our global footprint allows us to provide clients with local market insight, regulatory guidance, and cultural understanding while maintaining centralized coordination for consistency and efficiency.
Clients benefit from unified global practices that combine U.S. and international expertise, enabling seamless knowledge sharing and tailored solutions. Our Global People Solutions team, for example, supports multinational employers with benefits strategy, compliance, and workforce engagement across borders. This global scale, paired with our independent structure, allows us to innovate quickly and deliver smarter, more agile solutions wherever our clients do business.
IVCA: You position yourself as partners to your clients, and pride yourself on having the flexibility of creative thinking even in an industry like insurance. What is an example of creative thinking for a client if they have specific or even alternative needs?
Lockton: At Lockton, we start by understanding our clients’ goals and aligning our strategies to meet them. Creative thinking often means going beyond traditional insurance, leveraging captives, structured solutions, alternative retentions, and contractual risk transfer strategies. We combine this flexibility with a data-driven approach that blends rigorous reporting with deep expertise, allowing us to tailor solutions to each client’s unique needs.
For example, in a recent consumer product stock transaction, we identified coverage and pricing improvements during a 30-day exclusivity period. With approval to market under a project name, we delivered at-close coverage replacement that resulted in a 42% rate savings and enhanced balance sheet protection, translating to an immediate EBITDA increase for the Private Equity firm.
In another case, our Complex Claims Management and Pharmacy teams collaborated to address high-cost infusions for a rare immune disorder. By proposing a “gold bagging” strategy by billing the medication through the pharmacy benefit and delivering it to the hospital’s infusion center, we achieved $849,886 in total savings while maintaining the same high-quality care for the patient.
IVCA: You list five categories of products and services … Risk, People Solutions, Private Risk Solutions, Capital and Industries. What data are you assessing for each potential client to focus their needs, or even expand them if you detect something in that data that could help their business within your products and services?
Lockton: At Lockton, data drives strategy, but it’s our insight that delivers results.
We assess a wide range of financial, operational, and risk-related data across our five service areas, Risk, People Solutions, Private Risk Solutions, Capital, and Industries to uncover opportunities and tailor solutions. For example, we analyze exposures, claims history, insurance spend, and contractual risk transfer strategies in Property & Casualty; plan design, funding mechanisms, and compliance risks in Employee Benefits; and liabilities and vendor contracts in Retirement.
But we don’t rely on data alone. Our consultants combine rigorous reporting with deep expertise to align recommendations with each client’s business and people. Lockton’s proprietary platform, Infolock®, connects advanced data capabilities, unique benchmarking, and unmatched analysis to give us a complete view of our clients’ health plan members allowing us to deliver smarter, more targeted solutions that drive measurable impact.
IVCA: What does Lockton Companies hope to achieve in their interaction with the VC/PE community within the IVCA?
Lockton: Lockton is excited to deepen our engagement with the VC and PE community through the IVCA. Our goal is to foster new partnerships with firms that value having a trusted, strategic advisor across multiple service areas from M&A due diligence to portfolio company support. We’ve built long-standing relationships by delivering tailored, high-impact solutions across risk, employee benefits, retirement, and private risk. Through IVCA, we hope to continue that legacy of helping firms navigate complexity, unlock value, and support growth across their investments.
For the website of Lockton Companies, click here. To arrange a conversation, please reach out to Joe Spallina at joe.spallina@lockton.com.