Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) will look for M&A. Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Ryan said during the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call, "Turning to capital allocation, M&A remains our top priority, and we entered the year with significant momentum. We are cultivating a wealth of opportunities. And as market conditions are improving, we have an ambitious M&A outlook for 2024.

We continue to see substantial M&A opportunities that we expect will bolster our organic growth engine. Our M&A pipeline remains robust and includes both tuck-ins and potential large deals. As we've consistently noted, we will only move forward when all of our criteria for M&A are met.

Each acquisition must be a strong cultural fit, strategic and accretive. Additionally, given our broad financial flexibility, we are pleased to initiate a quarterly dividend program to return capital and create additional value for our shareholders. And assisted by our Board to initiate the cash dividend program reflects confidence in our ability to continue to drive sustainable, profitable growth, generate strong cash flow over the long term and execute on a robust M&A program.

It is also a testament of our ability to be excellent stewards of capital for our investors as we believe we can both seamlessly execute on our robust M&A pipeline for years to come and distribute dividends to our shareholders. We remain firmly committed to our successful long-term strategy. One, organically investing in our business to support sustainable and profitable growth; two, executing on our disciplined M&A strategy with high-quality acquisitions; and three, maintaining our strong balance sheet while returning excess cash, all of which create value for our shareholders.

As we progress through 2024, there are 4 things you can continue to expect from Ryan Specialty".