Connor & Gallagher OneSource (CGO)
Creating Stronger Insurance Outcomes

Luke Barnett, Managing Partner and Employee Benefits Practice Leader

Left in a drawer, insurance is just a fire extinguisher—useful in an emergency but passive until something burns. Structured as an operational system, it becomes a business’s nerve center, aligning risk management, safety standards and claims data into a proactive feedback loop that catches vulnerabilities before they turn into losses.

Connor & Gallagher OneSource (CGO) applies this way of thinking to the middle market. As an independent insurance and HR solutions firm, CGO integrates risk management, employee benefits, payroll and retirement services into a unified, consultant driven framework.

“Our value proposition is to serve employers as a strategic partner by delivering the insight, expertise and resources organizations need to control costs, reduce risk and make smarter business decisions through expert consulting and proactive client advocacy,” says Luke Barnett, Managing Partner and Employee Benefits Practice Leader.

How the System Works

CGO’s consultants begin by understanding how a business operates—its ownership, customers, products and services—before reviewing coverage or discussing price. That operational insight allows the team to identify coverage gaps, address factors carriers evaluate and strengthen a client’s risk profile before a policy is placed.

“The only way to get better pricing is to make yourself a better risk,” says Barnett.

AI tools support the analysis of existing coverage and help identify potential gaps. An annual service plan built around quarterly reviews extends that discipline by assessing whether a policy placed in January still fits the business in July, whether limits need adjustment and whether new exposures have emerged.

Operational changes like new locations, payroll shifts and process updates surface during these reviews rather than after a loss. Each conversation builds on the last, allowing the insurance program to evolve with the business.

“Many middle-market organizations originally selected independent agencies for personal service and experienced advice, but after industry acquisitions, they found themselves working with large brokerage firms they never chose,” adds Barnett. “We remain fiercely independent and assign veteran professionals to the market segment that is central to our business.”

CGO’s services span both employee benefits and property and casualty. Benefits support includes consulting, compliance, data analytics, administration, wellness and benefits technology. Property and casualty services include consulting, risk management strategy, exposure review, claims management and advocacy, loss control and workplace safety.

Across both disciplines, the objective is consistent: reduce preventable claims and make clients more attractive risks to insurance carriers.

Technology Guided by Client Value

CGO’s technology strategy follows the same client-first logic. Its team configures and manages Employee Navigator in-house, preparing the platform for open enrollment with no outside administrator to coordinate.

Private ownership lets CGO reinvest in capabilities that improve client experience instead of prioritizing short-term shareholder returns. One AI-enabled tool provides an independent underwriting view of an employee benefits group, giving employers a clearer view of their risk and where plan design could help.

CGO’s Net Promoter Score has improved in each of the past four years. United Benefit Advisors and RiskProNet connect CGO with independent agencies nationwide to exchange best practices, tools and market insights.

What Sustained Attention Produces

A middle-market employer approached CGO after feeling trapped in the fully insured market. That employer knew claims were driving costs but lacked guidance on managing them and handled benefits administration directly with a payroll provider.

CGO presented alternative funding strategies, including potential self-funding through a captive and took over the back-end benefits administration entirely, freeing the employer’s staff for other work.

A large municipal organization had chosen a small independent broker nine to ten years earlier, only to see that agency acquired twice. Familiar contacts disappeared and service attention declined. CGO restored the detailed, consistent engagement the client had expected from an independent broker.

Scaling Independence

Barnett expects clients and experienced professionals who entered large brokerage firms through acquisition to move back toward entrepreneurial, independent agencies. CGO has grown from two partners to 12 equity partners and Barnett believes that number could double within five years.

Expanding ownership lets CGO attract experienced professionals with a direct stake in its success and client outcomes. Recognition as Insurance Business Review’s Top Independent Insurance Broker in Illinois 2026 reflects a model built on independence, sustained engagement and helping clients become better risks.