Higginbotham Appoints Former Stone Point Exec to Newly Created CFO, COO Role

Veteran executive Andrew Reutter has been appointed as chief financial officer/chief operating officer of Fort Worth-based Higginbotham, an employee-owned insurance, financial, and HR services firm.

The firm said that Reutter’s addition marks a significant step in its strategy to invest in talent that will drive the firm’s continued evolution and power its next phase of growth.

“Our success has been built on investing in great people—and making sure they’re in the right roles,” Rusty Reid, Higginbotham’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “With that philosophy, we’ve built an incredible organization, strong partnerships and a great culture. We realized last year that we needed additional senior leadership to extend our focus on excellence to our financial structures, operations and technology. We’ve been fortunate to work closely with Andrew as Stone Point’s representative on our board for over a decade, and we knew he was the right person for the role.”

‘Higg 3.0’

Higginbotham said that at Stone Point Capital, Reutter built and led the capital markets division and worked closely with insurance services firms, overseeing financing and investment strategy. Reutter has worked extensively with Higginbotham to develop its efficient capital structure, aiding its organic and inorganic growth while providing for annual liquidity to shareholders.

Higginbotham said that strategy has helped support the firm’s 20%-plus compounded annual revenue growth rate.

“Higginbotham is at a unique inflection point,” Reutter said. “I like to call it Higg 3.0. If 1.0 was about building the employee ownership model, and 2.0 focused on growth through the partnership and M&A strategy, 3.0 is a new chapter focused on strengthening the team and driving operational excellence, while preserving our growth trajectory and culture.”

Reutter said he loved his time as part of the Stone Point family.

“This change doesn’t feel like leaving Stone Point so much as getting the opportunity to join Higginbotham at exactly the right moment. Having spent years working alongside the team, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the business and its potential. I’m truly excited to help strengthen an already exceptional organization,” Reutter said.

Growth while preserving ‘special’ culture

Reutter said he intends to focus on operational and financial strategy while preserving the qualities that make Higginbotham successful.

“We have an amazing team that has built an incredible business,” he said. “My focus is to help make it even better without changing the culture that makes Higginbotham special. That means finding ways to be more efficient, optimizing relationships, streamlining daily processes and thoughtfully leveraging tools like AI and automation to help our people work smarter.”

Reutter highlighted the firm’s employee ownership model as a unique advantage and a source of tremendous opportunity.

“That level of alignment is rare,” Reutter said. “When the people who ride the elevator every day have significant equity ownership, it fosters alignment, accountability and collaboration in a way most firms can’t match. That excites me about the future — not just growing in size, but also expanding our services, whether adding financial services offerings, developing new verticals or deepening our expertise in specialty lines. We have so much potential here, and I want to help us unlock it.”

Reutter’s new role combines elements of finance and operations that were previously spread across other positions, creating dedicated leadership capacity in those areas.

“Given our size and historical growth rate, we need to invest in talent,” Reid said. “As we’re reaching a milestone of a billion dollars in revenue, we’re planning ahead — strengthening our bench to position ourselves for everything that comes after.”