The Baldwin Group Announces Leadership Appointments in its Insurance Advisory Solutions Segment

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 5, 2026--

The Baldwin Group (“Baldwin” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BWIN) today announced leadership appointments in its Insurance Advisory Solutions (IAS) segment, the firm’s retail property and casualty and employee benefits brokerage business.

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Following The Baldwin Group’s recently closed merger with CAC Group, Erin Lynch has been named President of Specialty Insurance for the IAS business segment. In this role, Ms. Lynch will have executive oversight of the segment’s extensive platform of industry practices and product specialties, ensuring the full power of the organization’s deep expertise is brought to bear to serve clients with complex risk management needs. Ms. Lynch will lead the strategic planning and continued expansion of Baldwin’s sector-specific offerings and product capabilities.

Jeff Hughes has been appointed President of Middle Market Insurance for the IAS business segment. In this role, Mr. Hughes will lead the firm’s middle market platform serving the employee benefits and commercial insurance needs of business clients through an extensive regional network spanning all major markets across the United States. He will oversee middle market growth strategies designed to holistically deliver more advanced solutions to a broader base of business clients.

Joe Valerio, recently appointed Chief Operating Officer of IAS, will continue in his current role with oversight of the segment’s client experience, broking and placement, and national operations functions. His organization will have responsibility for deploying a consistent and efficient operating model across the entire IAS segment.

Ms. Lynch, Mr. Hughes, and Mr. Valerio will report to Dan Galbraith, President, The Baldwin Group and CEO, Retail Brokerage Operations.

“The Baldwin Group’s merger with CAC Group unites two firms recognized for industry-leading growth, exceptional talent, and award-winning cultures. These leadership appointments represent the first step in a thoughtful combination to deliver the best of each brand through a structure that can efficiently serve the widest range of clients regardless of complexity, size, or geography,” said Mr. Galbraith. “Erin, Jeff, and Joe are dynamic and proven leaders, well-aligned to drive the exciting next phase of the firm’s growth.”

ABOUT THE BALDWIN GROUP

The Baldwin Group, the brand name for The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWIN) and its affiliates, is an independent insurance distribution firm providing indispensable expertise and insights that strive to give our clients the confidence to pursue their purpose, passion, and dreams. As a team of dedicated entrepreneurs and insurance professionals, we have come together to help protect the possible for our clients. We do this by delivering bespoke client solutions, services, and innovation through our comprehensive and tailored approach to risk management, insurance, and employee benefits. We support our clients, colleagues, insurance company partners, and communities through the deployment of vanguard resources and capital to drive our organic and inorganic growth. The Baldwin Group proudly represents more than three million clients across the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit www.baldwin.com.

NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which represent The Baldwin Group’s expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical facts and may include statements that address our future operating, financial or business performance or The Baldwin Group’s strategies, expectations, anticipated achievements or ability to raise or refinance debt. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” “outlook” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements.

Factors that could cause actual results or performance to differ from the expectations expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Baldwin’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and in Baldwin’s other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which are available free of charge on the SEC’s website at: www.sec.gov, including those risks and other factors relevant to the business, financial condition and results of operations of Baldwin, the risk that we will not be able to incur the transactions described herein in a timely manner, and the risk that we will be unable to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the transactions described herein. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated. All forward-looking statements and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to The Baldwin Group or to persons acting on behalf of The Baldwin Group are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Baldwin does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law.

Executive Bios Addendum

Erin Lynch Bio

Erin Lynch is President of Specialty Insurance for The Baldwin Group’s Insurance Advisory Solutions (IAS) business segment, where she provides executive oversight of industry practices and product specialties to ensure the firm’s deep expertise is fully leveraged to address clients’ most complex risk management needs. Previously, she served as Chief Executive Officer of CAC Group, leading with a focus on operational excellence, data-driven decision-making, and a people-first culture. Earlier in her career, Ms. Lynch led the CAC Specialty Natural Resources Division, partnering with some of the world’s largest independent power companies and utilities to design and steward global risk management programs. She has been recognized twice as a Risk & Insurance Power Broker and honored as a Woman to Watch by Business Insurance and an Elite Woman by Insurance Business America.

Jeff Hughes Bio

Jeff Hughes is President of Middle Market Insurance for The Baldwin Group’s IAS Business segment, where he has national responsibility for how Baldwin's middle market platform serves employee benefits and commercial insurance business clients across the country and advances its ability to deliver more holistic solutions. Most recently, Mr. Hughes served as Baldwin’s Regional President, Southeast Region with P&L responsibility for the firm across the southeast region of the U.S. He joined Baldwin in 2019 as the Managing Director of Employee Benefits in the region, where he led the team to become a top-performing business. Before joining Baldwin, Mr. Hughes spent 14 years in the service industry working for industry-leading corporations Cintas, Shred-It, and Stericycle.

Joe Valerio Bio

Joe Valerio is the Chief Operating Officer for The Baldwin Group’s Insurance Advisory Solutions (IAS) segment with oversight of IAS’s client experience, broking and placement, and national operations functions with responsibility for deploying a consistent and efficient operating model. Most recently, Mr. Valerio served as Division Leader, Western Division, for World Insurance Associates, LLC where he drove revenue growth and margin expansion through disciplined sale execution and operational excellence across 27 offices across 13 states. Prior to World Insurance, he served as Chief Operating Officer for the CRB North America Industry Verticals Division at Willis Towers Watson where he guided a team of nearly 3,000 colleagues across diverse functions, generating annual revenue of more than $1.2 billion.

Erin Lynch, President of Specialty Insurance for The Baldwin Group's Insurance Advisory Solutions segment

Joe Valerio, Chief Operating Officer, The Baldwin Group's Insurance Advisory Solutions segment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom won final approval from a key agency on Thursday, despite a federal judge recently ordering a halt to construction unless Congress allows what would be the biggest structural change to the American landmark in more than 70 years.

The 12-member National Capital Planning Commission, the agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region, went ahead with the vote because U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling — which came two days earlier — affects construction activities but not the planning process, said the commission's Trump-appointed chair, Will Scharf.

A vote of 8-1, with two commissioners voting present and one absent, allowed the plan to move forward.

Despite the agency’s approval, however, the judge’s ruling and a legal fight over the ballroom could stall progress on a legacy project that Trump is racing to see completed before the end of his term in early 2029. It’s among a series of changes the Republican president is planning for the nation’s capital to leave his lasting imprint while he’s still in office.

Before the vote, Scharf, a top White House aide, noted that Leon's order has been stayed for two weeks as the administration seeks an appeal. He said, as he understood the decision, it “really does not impact our action here today.”

Reading from notes, Scharf also delivered an impassioned defense of the project that reviewed the full history of the White House — including changes and additions that were criticized at the time they were made but have become beloved with the passage of time. He spoke about the addition of the north and south porticos and the balcony added by President Harry Truman.

Scharf suggested that Trump’s proposed ballroom will similarly come to be viewed as a wise addition — despite drawing contemporary opposition from some members of the public and government officials.

“I believe that, in time, this ballroom will be considered every bit of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House,” Scharf said.

Scharf also said the proposed ballroom has been viewed negatively because of opposition to Trump, instead of the merits, saying, “I feel that we’ve been unfairly slighted in the press and otherwise for the way we’ve gone about reviewing this particular project.”

The vote by the commission, which includes three members Trump gets to appoint, had initially been scheduled for March but was postponed to Thursday because so many people signed up to comment at the commission’s meeting last month. The comments were overwhelmingly opposed to the ballroom.

The lone “no” vote was cast by Phil Mendelson, a Democrat who chairs the Council of the District of Columbia. Linda Argo and Arrington Dixon, the two commissioners appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, voted present.

Mendelson criticized the design of the ballroom addition and how fast it was approved.

“It’s just too large,” he said.

Criticism also came from Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. One of its attorneys, Jon Golinger, said the commission had discounted opposition from city officials and thousands of people who commented against the project, and ignored the judge's ruling. Several commissioners, including Scharf, had said they took the public feedback seriously.

“This approval is illegitimate and this vote is a joke," Golinger said.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle, commended the “decision to approve President Trump’s historic vision to build a much need ballroom at the White House.”

“We look forward to seeing the completion of this project on time and under budget," Ingle said in a statement.

Before voting, the commission considered some design changes to the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition that the president announced aboard Air Force One on Sunday, as he flew back to Washington from a weekend at his Florida home.

He removed a large staircase on the south side of the building and added an uncovered porch to the west side. Architects and other critics of the project had panned the staircase as too large and basically useless since there was no way to enter the ballroom at the top.

A White House official said the president had considered comments from the National Capital Planning Commission and another oversight entity, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which approved the project earlier this year, as well as members of the public.

The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the ballroom design and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that additional “refinements” had been made to the building’s exterior.

The ballroom, now estimated to cost $400 million, has expanded in scope and price tag since Trump first announced the project last summer, citing a need for space other than a tent on the lawn to host important guests. Trump demolished the East Wing in October with little warning, and site preparation and underground work have been underway since then.

Two other Trump-appointed commissioners, Stuart Levenbach and James Blair, voted for the project.

Levenbach, who serves as vice chairman and is the federal government’s chief statistician, said the White House is currently “not suited” to accommodate large numbers of guests and that the addition will improve the “utility” of the compound.

He said tunnels and other structures underground at the White House made it impossible to place many features of the ballroom there, too, as some have suggested might be possible. Levenbach said the addition is a “multipurpose facility,” noting that, in addition to a ballroom, it will also have offices for the first lady, kitchen space and a theater.

“This is not an expansion for its own sake,” Levenbach said.

Blair, a deputy to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, said visitors and guests of the president deserve a “better experience."

Scharf and Blair also said Trump will get “very limited use” of the ballroom before his term ends.

Trump went ahead with the project before seeking input from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, which he reconstituted with allies and supporters.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private nonprofit organization, sued after Trump demolished the East Wing last fall to build the ballroom addition — a space nearly twice as big as the mansion itself.

Trump says it will be paid for with donations from wealthy people and corporations, including him, though public dollars are paying for underground bunkers and security upgrades.

The trust sought a temporary halt to construction until Trump presented the project to both commissions and Congress for approval. Leon agreed but said that his order would take effect in two weeks and that construction related to security would be allowed.

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the proposed new East Wing of the White House as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the proposed new East Wing of the White House as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)