Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Wholesaler Conference Questions: Rising Premiums, Disruption, Disasters?

Jan 22 2018 // Surplus lines in California had a great year with more premium and more items, such as policies and endorsements sold. However, surplus lines brokers had to work harder for all that premium. That’s according to Ben...

People

Jan 22 2018 // Salt Lake City, Utah-based Leavitt Group Insurance Advisors has named Mike Scott a senior risk advisor and director of program business. Scott will focus on middle markets, large accounts, and hard-to-place specialty...

Number of Licensed Agents, Agencies on the Rise in Arkansas

Jan 22 2018 // Arkansas had a 21 percent increase in the number of licensed insurance agents last year and a 4 percent rise in the number of licensed agencies, the state insurance department reported. According to Arkansas Insurance...

People

Jan 22 2018 // Madison, Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance named Todd Fancher as its first digital transformation officer. Fancher will oversee American Family group’s strategic investment in technology and practices that...

‘Super Underwriter’ Hoopingarner Wins Insurance Journal’s ‘Coolest Part of Your Job’ Contest

Jan 22 2018 // Insurance underwriter Aubrie Hoopingarner said she wound up working in insurance the same way many people in the industry start their careers, she “kind of stumbled into it!” Now, nearly a decade into a...

Minding Your Business: Making the Competition Irrelevant by Differentiation

Jan 22 2018 // As competition intensifies, agency owners have found it increasingly difficult to grow their business. Profit margins have shrunk, leaving many to turn to acquisition to sustain a high level of growth. This is known as a...

Consolidation Continues: The Squeezing of Wholesale Brokers

Jan 22 2018 // Wholesale insurance brokers have been selling off their businesses and it’s not because they are all ready to retire. As in the retail agency segment, consolidation among wholesale brokerages is being driven by...

Tech Talk: The Real Threat to Agents from Amazon

Jan 22 2018 // Amazon may be close to jumping back into insurance, at least in India, with this month’s announcement of a possible investment in an online-only insurance startup. Whether the retailing behemoth is or isn’t,...

People

Jan 22 2018 // Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Co., a Towson, Md.-based workers’ compensation specialist, has hired Danielle Quinn as a pharmacist case manager. In this role, Quinn is responsible for managing the Pharmacy...

Innovative Coverage Concepts Appoints Gross President of Wholesale Division

Jan 18 2018 // Innovative Coverage Concepts LLC (ICC), a national wholesale broker and managing general agency, has announced an expansion of its wholesale operations under the leadership of Steven R. Gross, who has been appointed...

Insurance Agency M&As Soared 31% in 2017: OPTIS

Jan 18 2018 // Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agencies last year broke all records in 2017, according to OPTIS Partners’ annual report. The OPTIS database recorded 604 deals in the United States and Canada in 2017, a 31...

How the U.S. Can Improve Workplace Injury and Illness Data

Jan 18 2018 // Federal agency officials involved in reducing work-related injuries and illnesses believe there is still a lot to learn about the relationship between work and injuries. According to the experts, the government needs...

JenCap Holdings to Acquire Genesee General of Georgia

Jan 18 2018 // JenCap Holdings LLC (JCH), a specialty insurance business, has agreed to acquire privately-held Genesee General, a managing general agency, program administrator and wholesale insurance broker based in Alpharetta, Ga. The...

Change at Top at AmWINS: Purviance to Take Over DeCarlo’s CEO Role

Jan 17 2018 // Charlotte-based global wholesale broker AmWINS Group announced that Scott M. Purviance will succeed M. Steven DeCarlo as the company’s chief executive officer, effective May 1, 2018. DeCarlo, who has served as CEO of...

Deutsche Bank Forms Bancassurance Partnership with Digital Broker Friendsurance

Jan 16 2018 // Deutsche Bank and digital insurance broker Friendsurance have formed a partnership designed to make it simpler and more transparent and convenient for clients to arrange for their insurance needs. To drive this, Deutsche...

Hub International Acquires P/C Book from Montreal Broker Daniel Picard

Jan 12 2018 // Hub International Ltd. (Hub), the Chicago-based insurance brokerage, announced it has acquired a property and casualty insurance book of business from Montreal broker Daniel Picard. Terms of the acquisition were not...

Senators Propose Heavy Fines for Credit Agencies Over Privacy Data Breaches

Jan 12 2018 // Two Senate Democrats are proposing large new fines for credit reporting agencies that lose consumers’ personal information in data breaches, according to a bill they introduced on Wednesday. The bill would impose...

2 Minnesota Employee Benefit Agencies Merge

Jan 10 2018 // Two independent Minneapolis, Minnesota-area employee benefits firms, SevenHills Benefit Partners and The Cleveland Company, have merged to offer broader services to local clients. The new firm, SevenHills Cleveland Benefit...

New Hampshire’s SIAA Hires Carey to Business Insurance Advantage Program

Jan 10 2018 // Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a Hampton, N.H.-based alliance of independent insurance agencies in the U.S., has hired Lizah Carey as a business insurance development specialist for its Business Insurance...

UK Broker Beach & Associates to Be Acquired by Michigan-Based Acrisure

Jan 10 2018 // London-based broker Beach & Associates announced Acrisure LLC has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the company’s equity from existing shareholders. These shareholders include Aquiline Capital Partners, a private...